California Quail are handsome birds with a curious, forward-drooping head plume. Males have mainly gray-brown upperparts, their napes finely marked with black and white and dull brown crowns. Black on the face and throat is defined by white and separated from the crown by a white line above the eye. The breast is lilac-gray and the belly appears to be beautifully scaled due to dark feather margins. Their flanks are brown with pale streaks. Females are similar to the males but duller overall and lacking the striking head markings. California Quail are typically found in the foothills, coastal sagebrush, chaparral and high desert of California and the northwestern states. Normally they will be seen walking, running or scratching at the ground and leaf litter for seeds and other food. Occasionally, they will forage in trees. Generally, they forage in open areas but stay close to cover. Despite their short legs, California Quail can run amazingly fast. If startled by a predator they will burst into flight with rapid, whirring wingbeats. California Quail form flocks known as coveys in fall and winter. These are usually made of family groups and can number more than 75 individuals. California Quail roost in trees and feed mainly in the morning and evening, spending most of the day in shrubs that shade them from the sun and protect them from predators. Being seedeaters, their diet is typically 70% vegetarian. However, California Quail will also eat leaves, flowers, catkins, grain, poison oak berries, acorns, caterpillars, beetles, mites, millipedes and snails. The nest is usually a shallow depression lined with stems and grasses, often placed near vegetation or rocks for protection. The eggs are creamy white with variable brown markings. Mom will lay 12 - 16 eggs that will take 22-23 days to hatch. The chicks are covered in brownish down and can walk, follow their parents and peck at the ground immediately after hatching. Several broods may mix together and all the parents care for the young. Other cool facts: California Quail digest vegetation with the help of protozoans in their intestines. Pairs of California Quail call antiphonally, meaning that the male and female alternate calls fitting them into a tightly orchestrated pattern. The head plume looks like a single feather but is actually a cluster of six overlapping feathers. The California Quail is California's state bird and has been introduced to many other parts of the world including Hawaii, Europe and New Zealand. The oldest known California Quail was 6 years 11 months old.
