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Mountain Quail: Large,striking quail with long elegant black head plume, white-bordered rufous-brown face and throat, gray-brown upperparts, blue-gray breast, and rufous-brown belly and sides with distinct white bars. Rapid direct flight, series of several stiff wing beats followed by a short glide.
● Song: "quee-ark"
● Foraging & Feeding: Mountain Quail: Forages almost exclusively on arid brushy hillsides, feeding on a wide variety of seeds and flowers. Will dig for bulbs and climb trees to reach seeds or fruit. In the fall eats many acorns.
● Breeding & nesting: Mountain Quail: Nest is a simple scrape on the ground under dense cover. Lays six to fifteen creamy buff to red buff eggs that are apparently incubated by both parents for 24 days. Chicks are able to walk and feed at one day, and make short flights when 2 weeks old.
● Similar species: Mountain Quail: California Quail has short black plume tilted forward, dark brown crown and scaly underparts with white streaking on sides.