California Quail
California Quail: Medium quail with distinctive, curled black head plume and white-bordered black throat. Breast is gray and belly is sharply scaled. The flanks are brown with white streaks and back is olive-brown. Legs and feet are gray. Alternates several stiff, rapid wing beats with short glides.
● Song:
"chi-ca-go", "ka-kah-ko"
● Foraging & Feeding:
California Quail: Eats seeds from broad-leafed plants, such as Lupinus, Lotus, Erodium, Trifolium, Medicago, and Amsinckia; also feeds on fruits, berries, and insects; forages on the ground.
● Breeding & nesting:
California Quail: Twelve to sixteen buff to yellow eggs, with large blotches of brown gray, are laid in a shallow ground depression lined with grass. Incubation ranges from 18 to 23 days and is carried out by the female.
● Similar species:
California Quail: Gambel's Quail lacks scaled underparts, brown sides, and brown crown. Mountain Quail has gray-brown upperparts and two long, thin straight head plumes that appear as a single plume.