#callipepla squamata

[na-bird-of-the-day]

BOTD: Scaled Quail

Photo: Grigory Heaton

"Dry southwestern grasslands provide a home for this blue-gray quail. Coveys of Scaled Quail travel about on foot; even when disturbed, they tend to run rather than flying. In the concealing cover of the short grass they can be inconspicuous except in spring, when males often call from atop fenceposts or exposed rocks. At night, coveys of Scaled Quail roost on the ground in dense low growth."

- Audubon Field Guide

[haveyouseenthisbirdpoll]

Have you seen a Scaled quail (Callipepla squamata)?

Yes, in nature

No, but I have heard one in nature

Yes, in captivity

No, but I have heard one in captivity

I might have/I'm not sure

No, I've only heard of it/seen it in photos/taxidermy/etc

No, and I have never heard of this bird

Voting ended onDec 1, 2024

Photo source

Map source

[bird-of-the-day]

^image: By ALAN SCHMIERER - https://www.flickr.com/photos/sloalan/16935159393/, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57031708

Scaled Quail (Callipepla squamata)

The Scaled Quail, getting its wonderfully rhyming name from the scale-like feather patterns, is found in arid regions from the Southwestern United States to Central Mexico. Scaled Quails are opportunistic feeders and consume more grass seeds than other quail species. When they are disturbed, they hide in clumps of grass or in snakeweed.

[hello-birdies]

Callipepla squamata by Lee Hoy

[triruntu]

day 313, a scaled quail for @skidar.

Requests for birds are open! It just takes me a while to get to them these days. [project tag] | [kofi]

[birdstudies]

March 4, 2017 - Scaled Quail (Callipepla squamata)

Requested by: thursdayj

These quail are found in desert grasslands of the southwestern United States and northeast Mexico. They eat seeds and grains, along with some insects in the spring and green leaves in the winter. Males and females construct their nests from grasses in depressions in the ground hidden by dense vegetation. Very social birds, they live in groups called coveys, splitting into pairs during the breeding season. They roost on the ground, forming a circle with their heads facing out and roosting in tighter circles when it’s colder.

[lotsofbirds]

Scaled Quail (Callipepla squamata)

Distribution: Southern United States and northern Mexico

IUCN Status: Least Concern

{ Ecology } { Vocalizations } { eBird }

(Photo by Patricia van Casteren // CC 2.0)