California Quail
Callipepla californica
The California quail is a medium-sized quail. Specimens taken from various portions of their original range average from 5.3 to 6.7 ounces (150.6–189.5 g), with the largest occurring in northern California and the smallest in lower Baja California (Sumner 1935). Regarding subspecies of California quail, Leopold (1977) lists seven subspecies. It is interesting that one of these (C. c. catalinensis) is thought to have resulted from translocations of quail from the mainland of California to Catalina Island by humans perhaps 12,000 years ago (Johnson 1972).
Males are slightly greater in length than females (10.2 to 10.6 inches [260–270 mm] compared to 9.5 to 10.5 inches [241–266 mm] for the specimens reported in Grinnell et al. 1918). The sexes are distinct in color. The male is more colorful and has a black throat circled with a white line. The top of the male’s head is dark brown, with a plume of black curved feathers. The male’s breast is gray, the sides and flanks are streaked with white, and the rest of the underparts have dark and light scaling; there is a red-brown patch at the center of the belly. Females are mainly brown with a scaled breast and have streaked flanks similar to the male. The plume is not as distinct as the male’s. Young birds can be distinguished from adults in the fall and winter by the greater upper primary coverts on the wings. These feathers are tipped with buff color and are more pointed in birds-of-the-year; they are solid gray with rounded tips in adults.
Gambel’s Quail or Desert Quail
Callipepla gambelii
This species is sexually dimorphic. Both sexes possess a topknot or plume consisting of approximately six teardrop shaped feathers. Males have black faces bordered in white, a chestnut crown, black topknot, gray back, buff breast, cinnamon streaked flanks and a black circular or horseshoe shaped abdomen patch. Females are duller colored, with gray head and topknot, gray body plumage with buff-white tips and similarly cinnamon streaked flanks. Due to buff plumage tips, female body plumage appears browner than does that of males. Males average between 6.0 and 7.1 ounces (170–200 g, Brown et al. 1998), while females are typically smaller (between 5.6 and 6.0 ounces (160–170 g). Total length averages 9.8 inches (250 mm). Young of the year can be differentiated from adults by light tipped and mottled upper primary coverts in juveniles versus uniform gray colored upper primary coverts in adults. Juveniles retain primaries P9 and P10 through their first year.
Montezuma Quail or Mearn’s Quail or Harlequin Quail
Cyrtonyx montezumae, subspecies mearnsi
Montezuma quail are sexually dimorphic, the largest and the most strikingly marked of southwestern quail species. Male Montezuma quail have white and black harlequin-marked heads, capped by a russet shock of feathers that forms a nuchal crest. Males possess brown and black checkered backs interlaced with white or light colored feather shafts and have white, spotted black flanks.
The breast and underparts are a rich mahogany that turns to black at the rump, which terminates in a stubby, almost nonexistent tail. Females possess a similar head pattern but are cinnamon colored with brown, black and buff markings. In winter, the males average about 6.9 ounces (195 g), the females about 6.2 ounces (176 g). Total length ranges from 8.1 to 9.1 inches (205–230 mm, Stromberg 2000). Both sexes are equipped with long, curved claws with which they excavate the tubers upon which they feed. Juveniles can be differentiated from adults by the appearance of the upper primary coverts for each sex and by the appearance of outer two primaries (P9 and P10).
Mountain Quail
Oreortyx pictus
Mountain quail are the largest of North American quail. The first written description of mountain quail is attributed to the journals of Lewis and Clark, whose expedition collected specimens along the lower Columbia River. There are no reliable plumage characteristics to distinguish males from females across most of their range. Both genders possess straight vertical head plumes and chestnut-colored throat patches. There is subspecific variation in body color, but overall color is dull olive with white barring on the flanks surrounded by chestnut. Body mass of mountain quail during winter captured in southwestern Oregon averaged between 8.8 ounces and 9.2 ounces (250–260 g; the sample size equals 498). Adults average between 10.6 and 11.4 inches (270–290 mm, Johnsgard 1973). The American Ornithologist’s Union (AOU) currently recognizes five subspecies of mountain quail, but the legitimacy of these subspecies has been questioned.
Scaled Quail or Blue Quail or Cottontop Quail
Callipepla squamata
Scaled quail have brownish-gray wing, back and tail plumage. The head is topped with a white-tipped crest. Body and neck plumage is bluish with dark tips, creating a scaled appearance. There is very little difference in appearance between sexes, and they are reported as the least dimorphic of all North American quail species (Schemnitz 1994). Sex can be determined by examining the throat plumage, which is white to buff colored in males and is gray with dark streaks in females (Wallmo 1956a, Brown 1989). Males may also display a rich blue coloration in neck and upper breast plumage.
One subspecies—C. s. castagnogastis from southern Texas and portions of northeastern Mexico—exhibits a russet-orange horseshoe on the abdomen. This abdomen coloration has also been documented in scaled quail in southeastern Arizona (Brown 1989). This quail is slightly larger than the closely related Gambel’s quail, with which it occasionally hybridizes (Brown 1989). Total length of adults is reported at 10.0 to 12.0 inches (254–305 mm, Schemnitz 1994). Males (6.7 ounces [191 g]) are heavier than females (6.2 ounces [177 g], Nelson and Martin 1953). Young of the year can be differentiated from adults by light tipped and mottled upper primary coverts in juveniles versus uniform gray colored upper primary coverts in adults.
Juveniles retain primaries P9 and P10 through their first year.
Masked Bobwhite
Colinus virginianus ridgwayi
The masked bobwhite is 1 of 21 subspecies of the northern bobwhite (Guthery 2000:6–7). Although similar to the others in many ways, adaptation to an arid environment that is unique patterns in precipitation and temperature has likely been responsible for the unique aspects of the masked bobwhite’s life history.
Male masked bobwhites are characterized by a rusty red breast and a dark head. Some males exhibit a nearly solid black head with only minimal white flecking. Others show a distinct white eye stripe, which may be accompanied by additional white flecks. Females are indistinguishable from females of other bobwhite subspecies; they have light brown underparts with a buff throat and eye stripe. In both sexes, the back is brown with a high degree of dark patterning to each feather.
Adapted to southern climes, the masked bobwhite is characteristically smaller than many quail subspecies,averaging 5.9 ounces (168.6 g) for males and 5.7 ounces (162.8 g) for females (Tomlinson 1975).
