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California Quail

From Opus

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Male
Photo by digishooter
California, USA, December 2006

Callipepla californica

1 Identification
2 Distribution
3 Taxonomy
- 3.1 Subspecies
4 Habitat
5 Behaviour
- 5.1 Diet
- 5.2 Breeding
6 References
7 External Links

[edit] Identification

150.6 g to 189.5 g (5 - 7 oz.) 25 cm (9.8 in) Males slightly heavier

Mainly blue-grey and brown plumage
Distinctive black and white face pattern
Black and brown feather tips on belly giving a scaly appearance
Chestnut crown
Streaked flanks
Black bill
Grey legs

Female
Photo by blubird
Las Gallinas ponds, San Rafael, California, October 2011

Sexes are dimorphic
Males have a black throat; females a greyish throat with black streaks

Prominent teardrop-shaped plume or a double plume coming off its forehead

Immature: mostly greys and browns which gives it a cryptic look

[edit] Distribution

Western North America from extreme southwest British Columbia south through Washington, Oregon, and California to Baja California, Mexico.

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Subspecies

Eight subspecies are recognized^[1]:

C. c. californica in Mexico and Oregon
C. c. orecta in California and Oregon
C. c. brunnescens in California and Oregon
C. c. catalinensis in Santa Catalina region, California
C. c. canfieldae in Owen Valley, California
C. c. plumbea in Mexico and California
C. c. achrustera in southern Baja, Mexico
C. c. decolorata in Baja, Mexico

[edit] Habitat

Dense vegetation near water at low altitudes.

Replaced in montane forest by the Mountain Quail and in desert by the Gambel's Quail.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Diet

The diet includes seeds, leaves, berries and insects.

[edit] Breeding

The nest is a shallow scrape lined with vegetation. The clutch consists of up to 12 eggs.

[edit] References

Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2012. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2012. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist
summagallicana
Wikipedia