Male California Quail running in snow

California Quail Images, Facts and Information:

Callipepla californica

  • California Quail are small, round upland game birds with forward drooping black to brown head plumes, gray breasts and intricately scaled underparts. Their flanks are brown with white streaks, they have black bills and eyes and gray legs. Female California Quail lack the dark central path on their bellies.
  • California Quail are nonmigratory. Originally their range was from southern Oregon to Baja California, they have been introduced to the Pacific Northwest, Nevada, Idaho, Utah and Arizona and now thrive in those locations.
  • Preferred habitats for California Quail include live oak canyons, deserts, foothills and suburbs.
  • California Quail eat seeds, fruits, berries, leaves, flowers, grasses, grains and insects.
  • California Quail lay 12 to 16 eggs which hatch in 18 to 23 days. The female incubates and they are monogamous. Both parents rear the young.
  • A group of quail can be called a “drift”, “flush”, “rout”, “battery” and “shake” of quails.
  • California Quail can live to be more than six years old.

I hope you enjoy viewing my California Quail photos.

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