Scaled Quail
Callipepla squamata
Small and rotund with intricate scaly pattern on neck and body. Looks silvery gray and brown overall; note short “cotton-top” crest. Plain face with no black, unlike Gambel’s Quail. Look for small groups scurrying around through grasslands or under cactus and mesquite trees in desert habitats. Occurs from eastern Colorado to central Mexico. Listen for hoarse calls.
Identification
The scaled quail (Callipepla squamata), also commonly called blue quail or cottontop, is a species of the New World quail family. It is a bluish gray bird found in the arid regions of the Southwestern United States to Central Mexico. This species is an early offshoot of the genus Callipepla, diverging in the Pliocene. The nest is typically a grass-lined hollow containing 9–16 speckled eggs. When disturbed, it prefers to run rather than fly. Widespread and common throughout its range, the scaled quail is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Taxonomy
Genus: Callipepla; Family: Odontophoridae; Order: Galliformes.
- Scientific name
- Callipepla squamata
- Authority
- (Vigors, 1830)
- Order
- Galliformes
- Family
- Odontophoridae
- Genus
- Callipepla
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Black-browed Fulvetta
Alcippe grotei
Aptly-named; looks like a Yunnan or Mountain Fulvetta that went overboard with eyeliner. Warm brown with a pale belly and gray head. Black stripe very slightly and elegantly arches up above the eye. Larger than Mountain and Yunnan Fulvettas, and more warmly-colored than the former. Due to the lack of a prominent eyering, it also appears less smaller-eyed and less “cute” than those species. Inhabits broadleaved forests, where it can often be found as a part of large mixed flocks. Song is a brief series of rather bland plaintive phrases. Calls are harsh rolling chatters.
Scaly-breasted Partridge
Tropicoperdix chloropus
A cryptically-colored ground-dweller without the bright colors and bold head patterns boasted by many of its relatives. Mottled brown overall with a grayish-white face and a speckled orange throat. Forages in dense undergrowth like other partridges, usually in mature foothill and lowland forest. Listen for its song, a series of ascending breathy whistles which culminate in an echoing series of ringing notes. As with many other forest gamebirds, very difficult to see in general; most likely encountered at staked-out blinds, or, if one is lucky, walking quietly along roadsides and clearings at dusk and dawn.
Chestnut-throated Monal-Partridge
Tetraophasis obscurus
Large modestly-colored terrestrial bird of open woodlands, scrublands, and meadows in alpine areas. Brown overall with a peaked head, chestnut throat, and bright red skin around the eye. Body intricately patterned, with fine black spotting on breast and white edging on wings and flanks. Similar Szechenyi’s Partridge does not overlap in range. Song is a messy cacophony of twanging, nasal, and slurred notes.
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