Tasteful Reddish Crests

Saturday-Sunday, June 14-15, 2025

Tasteful Reddish Crests

Today’s special animal friend is Gambel’s Quail, Callipepla gambelii. These birds belong to the Odontophoridae family, “New World quail,” which resemble but are taxonomically distinct from “Old World quail,” the Phasianidae or pheasants. (Imported pheasants were established in the United States in the early 1800s.) Gambel’s quail are found in limited desert areas of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, and Texas, and in bordering Mexican states and down the eastern coast of the Sea of Cortez.

Gambel’s quail have been introduced to Hawai’i and are found on three islands. This seems like a bad idea just on general principles, given how sensitive island species are to introduced competitors, but I didn’t find any articles discussing negative consequences. Their All About Birds entry is here.

Adult Gambel’s quail average 11 inches long with a wingspan about 15 inches. (Bigger than a robin, smaller than a crow.) They have a small bill, a short neck, a plump body, a square tail, and short, broad wings. Males are very pretty, in an understated way, with patches of gray, chestnut and cream, a black patch on the belly, and a tasteful reddish crest. Females are more inconspicuous, mostly gray. Both sexes have a “comma-shaped” black tuft on the head; the male’s is larger, fuller, and darker.

These birds live in very hot, dry climates in the Sonoran, Chihuahuan, and Mojave Deserts at altitudes up to 5,500 feet. They like mesquite thickets along permanent or seasonal watercourses, shrubs and cacti, and agricultural fields. About 90% of their diet is plants, including green leaves, seeds, fruits, and berries. They eat some insects, especially during spring and summer nesting seeds, and young quail eat more insects than adults do.

They are monogamous in mating season, with each pair avoiding contact with others and forcefully discouraging interlopers. The female scrapes a small depression concealed by vegetation and lays 10 to 16 eggs. She incubates the eggs for 21-23 days. The hatchlings are precocial, walking out of the nest within hours of hatching. After hatching, the adults and young live together for some months in groups called coveys.

Gambel’s quail rarely fly, preferring to walk or run as they forage for food or escape predators.

Gambel’s quail are a species of Least Concern. Natural predators include snakes, raptors, foxes, coyotes, and bobcats. Hunting was once common, but in recent decades it has been curtailed or banned in various states.