This bird is named for the scaly appearance of its breast and back feathers. Along with its scaly markings, the bird is easily identified by its white crest that resembles a tuft of cotton.
The nest is typically a grass-lined hollow containing 9–16 speckled eggs. When disturbed, it prefers to run rather than fly.
Scaled quail occur from south-central Arizona, northern New Mexico, east-central Colorado,[3] and southwestern Kansas south through western Oklahoma and western and central Texas into Mexico to northeastern Jalisco, Guanajuato, Queretaro, Hidalgo, and western Tamaulipas. It has been introduced to Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and to the United States in Hawaii, central Washington, eastern Nevada, and Nebraska, but is only considered established in central Washington and eastern Nevada.[4][5]
Scaled quail has formed several subspecies, 3 of which range into the USA:
Callipepla squamata pallidaBrewster, 1881 (northern scaled quail). The most common subspecies, it occurs from Arizona and New Mexico to Colorado and just into Oklahoma, and western Texas, northern Chihuahua, and Sonora. It is paler than the nominate subspecies.
Callipepla squamata hargraveiRea, 1973 (Upper Sonoran scaled quail).[3] A form of arid habitat, it is only found in the area where the states of Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma meet, and in northwestern New Mexico. It is the palest subspecies, adapted to dry and sandy habitat.
Callipepla squamata castanogastrisBrewster, 1883 (chestnut-bellied scaled quail). Found in southern Texas from Eagle Pass and San Antonio south to adjacent northwestern Mexico (Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas). Similar individuals are sometimes found in the extreme northeast and west of the species' range.[7] The chestnut brown belly distinguishes it from all other subspecies; it is also darker than the other two found in the USA.
Plant communities
According to Ligon,[8] the distribution of scaled quail is largely coextensive with mesquite (Prosopis spp.), condalia (Condalia spp.), and cholla (Cylindropuntia spp.).
In Oklahoma, scaled quail occur in sand sagebrush (Artemisia filifolia)-grassland, pinyon-juniper (Pinus spp.-Juniperus spp.), and shortgrass High Plains.[9][10] Sand sagebrush-grasslands include sand sagebrush, soapweed yucca (Yucca glauca), skunkbush sumac (Rhus trilobata), and sand plum (Prunus watsonii).[10] Scaled Quail in Oklahoma inhabit rough or rolling land, especially where sagebrush (Artemisia spp.), mesquite, cactus (Opuntia spp. and others), yucca (Yucca spp.), juniper, sand shinnery oak (Quercus havardii), and rocks furnish cover.[11]
In Colorado, scaled quail occupy sand sagebrush and/or yucca stands on sandy soils.[12] The cover types used by scaled quail in Colorado are, in descending order, sand sagebrush-grassland, pinyon-juniper, dense cholla-grassland, dryland farmland, irrigated farmland, and greasewood (Sarcobatus spp.)-saltbush (Atriplex spp.) washes. Scaled Quail made little or no use of sparse cholla-grassland, riparian areas, reseeded grasslands, or shortgrass prairie disclimax.[13]
Timing of major life events
In Arizona, pairing and maximum dispersal is complete by mid-June. Nesting probably does not begin until early July.[14] In Oklahoma, egg laying usually starts in late April. Completed clutches have been found as early as May 8.[11] Egg laying occurs from March to June in Texas and Mexico, and from April to September in New Mexico. Nests with eggs were reported as early as April 15 in New Mexico.[10]
Scaled quail lay from 9 to 16 eggs; most clutches are 12 to 14 eggs.[15] Eggs are incubated by the female for 21 to 23 days. Double-brooding (the production of two consecutive broods in one season) is common.[15] In west Texas, Wallmo [16] observed the male rearing the first brood while the female began a second clutch. Sutton [11] stated, however, that scaled quail in Oklahoma are probably single-brooded, but have hatched broods as late as September 6. Ehrlich and others [17] also list scaled quail as single-brooded.
The precocial young leave the nest shortly after hatching. They are accompanied by at least one, usually both, parents, who show them how to find food.[17] The young fledge rapidly (age at fledging not reported in the literature), and are adult size in 11 to 15 weeks.[6][17]
Scaled quail are fairly sedentary. The winter home ranges of scaled quail coveys varied from 24 to 84 acres (9.7 to 34.0ha). The home ranges of separate coveys overlap only slightly or not at all.[6][10] From September to November scaled quail coveys maintain stable territories.[10][14] In Arizona, 75 to 90% of a population apparently moved off of a breeding area by mid-November, moving to nearby mountain foothills. The mountain habitat was consistent with that found on the breeding area. In March the population on the breeding area increased again, with most birds in groups of four to eight.[14]
The average winter covey size for scaled quail is around 30 birds, although coveys of up to 150 birds have been reported.[17]
Preferred habitat
Scaled quail inhabit dry, open valleys, plains, foothills, rocky slopes, draws, gullies, and canyons that have a mixture of bare ground, low herbaceous growth, and scattered brushy cover.[9][17] Good scaled quail habitat is characterized by low-growing grasses with forbs and shrubs. Overall ground cover is between 10 and 50%. Trees and shrubs should be less than 6.6 feet (2.0m) tall. Scaled quail avoid the dense growth associated with streamsides. Transmitter-fitted scaled quail had individual home range sizes of 52 and 60 acres (21 and 24ha).[14]
An absolute requirement by scaled quail for a source of open water has not been established; there is some debate in the literature whether there is such a requirement.[6][10] Scaled quail have been reported as inhabiting an area 7 or 8 miles (11 or 13 kilometres) from the nearest water in Arizona. In New Mexico, it was not unusual to find Scaled Quail 10 to 15 miles (16 to 24 kilometres) from water.[10] Wallmo [16] observed winter coveys 3 and 7 miles (4.8 and 11.3 kilometres) from water in Big Bend National Park in southwestern Texas.
In Arizona, scaled quail summer habitat is seldom within 660 feet (200m) of water. Scaled quail were observed drinking at stock tanks from April to June (which was a dry period during the course of the study) every 2 to 3 days.[14] In Oklahoma, scaled quail often migrate to farms and ranches in winter and are thus closer to a source of water in winter than in summer.[10] DeGraaf and others [9] reported that in winter, scaled quail are usually found within 1.25 miles (2.01km) of a source of water.
Cover requirements
Feeding cover: scaled quail use grass clumps and shrubs for cover while feeding. In one study they were frequently seen crossing 82 to 165 feet (25 to 50 metres) of bare ground. When disturbed, scaled quail hid in snakeweed (Gutierrezia spp.) or in grass clumps.[14] In June and July foraging occurs on open grasslands which are not used at other times.[10]
Loafing cover: scaled quail coveys occupy loafing or resting cover after early morning feeding periods. Scaled quail occupy desert grassland or desert scrub with a minimum of one loafing covert per approximately 70 acres (28 hectares).[9][15][18] In northwestern Texas, loafing coverts were characterized by: (1) overhead woody cover, (2) lateral screening cover, (3) a central area with bare soil, and (4) one or more paths through the lateral cover. Covert heights ranged from 1.6 to 5.9 feet (0.49 to 1.80m) high and 2.6 to 6.9 feet (0.79 to 2.10m) in diameter. Cholla formed all or part of the overhead cover of 85% of coverts, even though they were dominant at only 12% of the study locations. In areas where scaled quail occur without cholla, woody species such as wolfberry (Lycium spp.) and mesquite are important for overhead cover.[19] In Oklahoma pinyon-juniper habitats, scaled quail use the shade of tree cholla (Cylindropuntia imbricata) and human-made structures.[10] In Arizona, scaled quail occupied wolfberry and mesquite 1.7 to 5 feet (0.52 to 1.52m) tall for loafing cover. This overhead cover provides midday shade, but is open at the base to allow easy escape from predators.[14] In Oklahoma, winter home ranges always contained skunkbush sumac, tree cholla, or human-made structures providing overhead cover.[10]
Night-roosting cover: scaled quail roosts were observed in yucca (Yucca angustifolia), tree cholla, and true mountain-mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus)-yucca-fragrant sumac (Rhus aromatica) vegetation types. The height of vegetation used for night roosts was less than 1.6 feet (0.49m).[20]
Nesting cover: In March or April winter coveys spread out into areas with less cover. This use of areas with less cover coincides with a seasonal decrease in the number of raptors in the same area.[10] Scaled quail nests are constructed under tufts of grasses, and are sheltered by sagebrush (Artemisia spp.), creosotebush (Larrea tridentata), mesquite, catclaw acacia (Acacia greggii), cactus, or yucca;[15] under dead Russian-thistle (Salsola kali), mixed forbs, or soapweed yucca; or sheltered in old machinery or other human-made debris.[11] In Oklahoma, 66% of nests were in one of four situations: (1) dead Russian-thistle, (2) machinery and junk, (3) mixed forbs, and (4) soapweed yucca.[10] In New Mexico, ordination of breeding birds and vegetative microhabitats indicated that scaled quail were associated with increased levels of patchiness and increased cover of mesquite and cactus.[21]
Food habits
Scaled quail are opportunistic eaters.[6] Seeds are consumed year-round. Large seeds (such as those of mesquite and snakeweed) are important in Scaled quail diets.[22] Other seeds include those of elbowbush (Forestiera angustifolia), catclaw acacia, mesquite, hackberry (Celtis spp.), Russian-thistle, rough pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus), and sunflowers, ragweeds (Ambrosia spp.), and other Asteraceous plants.[9] Scaled quail consume more grass seeds than do other quail species.[9] Other dietary components include leaves, fruits, and insects. Summer diets are high in green vegetation and insects, which are also important sources of moisture.[14]
In Oklahoma, small groups of scaled quail feed among soapweed yucca and in soapweed yucca-sand sagebrush ranges, weed patches, and grain stubble. Also in Oklahoma, early winter foods apparently eaten when other foods are not available included snow-on-the-mountain (Euphorbia marginata), sand paspalum (Paspalum stramineum), field sandbur (Cenchrus pauciflorus), purslane (Portulaca spp.), skunkbush sumac, Fendler spurge (Euphorbia fendleri), and leaf bugs. Jimsonweed (Datura stramonium) and juniper berries were always avoided.[10] Winter foods of the scaled quail in Oklahoma include Russian-thistle and sunflower (Helianthus spp.) seeds.[11]
In northwestern Texas, selection of foods by scaled quail was dependent on foraging techniques, availability, and seed size. Small seeds were selected when they were still on the plant and could be easily stripped, but were not eaten once they had fallen, presumably because they were too small and/or too hard to find. Broom snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae) was a staple in winter diets; it was not highly selected but was consumed in proportion to its availability (and lack of availability of choice items).[23] Generally, in Texas grass seeds (mainly tall dropseed [Sporobolus asper] and rough tridens [Tridens muticus]) were major constituents of scaled quail diets. This was attributed to a precipitation pattern that resulted in a relatively higher amount of grass seed available, and a lower amount of available forbs. In the same study green vegetation formed a higher proportion of the diet than reported for other areas.[24]
In southwestern Texas, chestnut-bellied scaled quail consumed woody plant seeds and green vegetation. The seeds of brush species comprised 68% of the contents of 32 scaled quail crops. Green food, chiefly wild carrot (Daucus carota) and clover (Trifolium spp.) made up 7.17%. Elbowbush was the single most important source, followed by Roemer acacia (Acacia roemeriana), desert-yaupon (Schaefferia cuneifolia), and spiny hackberry (Celtis pallida).[25]
In southeastern New Mexico, staples (comprising at least 5% of scaled quail diet in both summer and winter) were mesquite and croton (Croton spp.) seeds, green vegetation, and snout beetles. Nonpreferred foods eaten in winter and available but not consumed in summer included broom snakeweed (the main winter food), crown-beard (Verbesina encelioides), cycloloma (Cycloloma atriplicifolium), and lace bugs. Mesquite seeds and broom snakeweed seeds together made up 75% of the winter diet.[22]Grasshoppers were a summer staple. Insect galls, cicadas, scarab beetles, spurge (Euphorbia spp.), plains bristlegrass (Setaria macrostachya) seeds, and white ratany (Krameria grayi) were consumed in a less pronounced seasonal pattern.[22] Another study reported substantial amounts of prairie sunflower seeds (Helianthus petiolaris) and pigweed (Amaranthus spp.) seeds in the diet of scaled quail.[26]
Scaled quail feed in alfalfa (Medicago spp.) fields.[11]
Predators
In Arizona, potential scaled quail predators include mammals, birds, and reptiles. Most scaled quail kills are made by avian predators including northern harrier (Circus cyaneus), red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), American kestrel (Falco sparverius), prairie falcon (Falco mexicanus), and great horned owl (Bubo virginianus).[14] In New Mexico, predators on scaled quail include hawks, owls, coyote (Canis latrans), and snakes.[18] In Colorado, potential predators of scaled quail include coyote, gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), kit fox (V. velox), bobcat (Lynx rufus), northern harrier, rough-legged hawk (Buteo lagopus), prairie falcon, peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), American kestrel, golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), and bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus).[12]
The northern bobwhite, also known as the Virginia quail or bobwhite quail, is a ground-dwelling bird native to Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Cuba, with introduced populations elsewhere in the Caribbean, Europe, and Asia. It is a member of the group of species known as New World quails (Odontophoridae). They were initially placed with the Old World quails in the pheasant family (Phasianidae), but are not particularly closely related. The name "bobwhite" is an onomatopoeic derivation from its characteristic whistling call. Despite its secretive nature, the northern bobwhite is one of the most familiar quails in eastern North America, because it is frequently the only quail in its range. Habitat degradation has likely contributed to the northern bobwhite population in eastern North America declining by roughly 85% from 1966 to 2014. This population decline is apparently range-wide and continuing.
The greater sage-grouse, also known as the sagehen, is the largest grouse in North America. Its range is sagebrush country in the western United States and southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada. It was known as simply the sage grouse until the Gunnison sage-grouse was recognized as a separate species in 2000. The Mono Basin population of sage grouse may also be distinct.
Gambel's quail is a small ground-dwelling bird in the New World quail family. It inhabits the desert regions of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Texas, and Sonora; also New Mexico-border Chihuahua and the Colorado River region of Baja California. Gambel's quail is named in honor of William Gambel, a 19th-century naturalist and explorer of the Southwestern United States.
Prosopis glandulosa, commonly known as honey mesquite, is a species of small to medium-sized, thorny shrub or tree in the legume family (Fabaceae).
Ord's kangaroo rat is a kangaroo rat native to western North America, specifically the Great Plains and the Great Basin, with its range extending from extreme southern Canada to central Mexico.
The white-throated woodrat is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is found from central Mexico north to Utah and Colorado in the United States. It is primarily a western species in the United States, extending from central Texas west to southeastern California. Populations east of the Rio Grande in New Mexico and Trans-Pecos Texas, previously considered to be variants of the white-throated woodrat, have since 1988 been assigned to the white-toothed woodrat.
The brush mouse is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is found in mountainous areas of Mexico and the western United States at altitudes over 2,000 m (6,600 ft).
The elegant quail is a species of New World quail endemic to Pacific-slope thorn forest of north-western Mexico, from southern Sonora to Nayarit. These are common, mainly ground-dwelling birds, and the IUCN has rated them as being a "species of least concern".
Gutierrezia sarothrae is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names broom snakeweed, broomweed, snakeweed, and matchweed. It is a subshrub native to much of the western half of North America, from western Canada to northern Mexico, and can be found in a number of arid, grassland, and mountain habitats. It can be toxic to livestock in large quantities, due mainly to the presence of saponins.
The black-tailed jackrabbit, also known as the American desert hare, is a common hare of the western United States and Mexico, where it is found at elevations from sea level up to 10,000 ft (3,000 m). Reaching a length around 2 ft (61 cm), and a weight from 3 to 6 lb, the black-tailed jackrabbit is one of the largest North American hares. Black-tailed jackrabbits occupy mixed shrub-grassland terrains. Their breeding depends on the location; it typically peaks in spring, but may continue all year round in warm climates. Young are born fully furred with eyes open; they are well camouflaged and are mobile within minutes of birth, thus females do not protect or even stay with the young except during nursing. The average litter size is around four, but may be as low as two and as high as seven in warm regions.
Cottonwood Canyon Wilderness is a 11,712-acre (47.4 km2) wilderness area in the US state of Utah. It was designated March 30, 2009, as part of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009. Located adjacent to the southern edge of the Dixie National Forest, it encompasses and protects a transition zone between the Colorado Plateau to the east and the Mojave Desert to the west. It is bordered by the Cottonwood Forest Wilderness to the northeast and is itself a part of the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area.
Pinyon–juniper woodland, also spelled piñon–juniper woodland, is a vegetation type (biome) of Western United States higher elevation deserts, characterized by being an open forest dominated by low, bushy, evergreen junipers, pinyon pines, and their associates which vary from region to region. The woodland's density and crown height varies dramatically depending on the site's soil and climate, the age of the stand, and the particular species present, with mature trees ranging in height from as low as 2 meters up to 15 meters. At lower elevations, junipers often predominate and trees are spaced widely, bordering on and mingling with grassland or shrubland. As elevation increases, pinyon pines become common and trees grow closer, forming denser canopies. Historically, pinyon-juniper woodland has provided a vital source of fuel and food for peoples of the American Southwest.
Sporobolus cryptandrus is a species of grass known as sand dropseed. It is native to North America, where it is widespread in southern Canada, most of the United States, and northern Mexico.
Calamovilfa longifolia is a species of grass known by the common names prairie sandreed and sand reedgrass. It is native to North America, where it occurs from the Northwest Territories to Ontario in Canada and as far south as New Mexico and Kansas in the United States. There are two varieties, var. longifolia being widespread in the species' range and var. magna being native to the Great Lakes region.
Artemisia filifolia, known by common names including sand sagebrush, sand sage and sandhill sage, is a species of flowering plant in the aster family. It is native to North America, where it occurs from Nevada east to South Dakota and from there south to Arizona, Chihuahua, and Texas.
Lycium berlandieri is a species of flowering plant in the nightshade family known by the common name Berlandier's wolfberry. It is native to Mexico and the south-western United States from Arizona to Texas.
The Datil Mountains are a small range on the northern edge of the Mogollon-Datil volcanic field, just northwest of the Plains of San Agustin in the U.S. state of New Mexico. The range lies in Socorro and Catron Counties, north of the town of Datil, New Mexico and takes its name from the Spanish word for “date,” dating back over two hundred years. In The Place Names of New Mexico, Robert Julyan suggests two possible explanations for the name: 1) that “the seedpods of the broad-leafed yucca sufficiently resembled dates” or 2) “the Spanish applied the name to the fruit of the prickly pear cactus.” The area includes the major ridgeline of Madre Mountain, which is sacred ground to the Acoma, Laguna, and Zuni tribes, as well as several other unnamed peaks and ridges.
The Colorado Plateau shrublands is an ecoregion of deserts and xeric shrublands in the Western United States.
The Meseta Central matorral is a deserts and xeric shrublands ecoregion in north-central Mexico.
↑ Long, John L. (1981). Introduced Birds of the World. Agricultural Protection Board of Western Australia, 21-493
↑ Sibley, Charles G.; Monroe, Burt L. Jr. (1990). Distribution and taxonomy of the birds of the world. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press ISBN0300049692
↑ Schemnitz, Sanford D. (1994): Scaled Quail (Callipepla squamata). In: Poole, A. & Gill, F.: The Birds of North America106. The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA & The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.
↑ Ligon, J. S. (1961). New Mexico birds and where to find them. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press
1 2 3 4 5 6 DeGraaf, Richard M.; Scott, Virgil E.; Hamre, R. H.; et al. (1991). Forest and rangeland birds of the United States: Natural history and habitat use. Agric. Handb. 688. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Schemnitz, Sanford D. (1961). Ecology of the scaled quail in the Oklahoma Panhandle. Wildlife Monographs: No. 8. Bethesda, MD: The Wildlife Society, pp. 5–47
1 2 3 4 5 6 Sutton, George Miksch. (1967). Oklahoma birds: their ecology and distribution with comments on the avifauna of the southern Great Plains. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press
1 2 Snyder, Warren D. (1967). Experimental habitat improvement for scaled quail. Game bird surveys. Colorado Division of Wildlife. Project number W-037-R-18/WK.PL.06/JOB 1
↑ Hoffman, Donald M. (1965). The scaled quail in Colorado: Range–population status–harvest. Tech. Publ. No. 18. Denver, CO: Colorado Department of Game, Fish, and Parks
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Goodwin, John G., Jr.; Hungerford, C. Roger. 1977. Habitat use by native Gambel's and scaled quail and released masked bobwhite quail in southern Arizona. Res. Pap. RM-197. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station.
1 2 3 4 Harrison, H. H. (1979). A field guide to western birds' nests. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. ISBN0618164375.
1 2 Wallmo, O. C. 1956. Ecology of scaled quail in west Texas. Contribution of the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act; Special report: Project W-57-R; Department of Wildlife Management, A & M College of Texas. Austin, TX: Texas Game and Fish Commission, Division of Wildlife Restoration.
1 2 3 4 5 Ehrlich, Paul R.; Dobkin, David S.; Wheye, Darryl. (1988) The birder's handbook: a field guide to the natural history of North American birds. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc. ISBN0671659898.
1 2 3 Campbell, Howard; Martin, Donald K.; Ferkovich, Paul E.; Harris, Bruce K. (1973). Effects of hunting and some other environmental factors on scaled quail in New Mexico. Wildlife Monographs No. 34. Bethesda, MD: The Wildlife Society
↑ Stormer, Fred A. (1981). Characteristics of scaled quail loafing coverts in northwest Texas. Res. Note RM-395. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station
↑ Stormer, Fred A. (1984). "Night-Roosting Habitat of Scaled Quail". Journal of Wildlife Management. 48 (1): 191–197. doi:10.2307/3808470. JSTOR3808470.
↑ Naranjo, Luis G.; Raitt, Ralph J. (1993). "Breeding bird distribution in Chihuahuan Desert habitats". Southwestern Naturalist. 38 (1): 43–51. doi:10.2307/3671643. JSTOR3671643.
1 2 3 Nowak, Cheryl L.; Nowak, Robert S.; Tausch, Robin J.; Wigand, Peter E. (1994). "A 30,000 year record of vegetation dynamics at a semi-arid locale in the Great Basin". Journal of Vegetation Science. 5 (4): 579–590. CiteSeerX10.1.1.495.3686. doi:10.2307/3235985. JSTOR3235985.
↑ Ault, Stacey C.; Stormer, Fred A. (1983). "Seasonal food selection by scaled quail in northwest Texas". Journal of Wildlife Management. 47 (1): 222–228. doi:10.2307/3808073. JSTOR3808073.
↑ Leif, Anthony P. (1987). Bobwhite and scaled quail responses to burning of redberry juniper- dominated rangelands. Lubbock, TX: Texas Tech University. Thesis
↑ Lehmann, Valgene W.; Ward, Herbert (1941). "Some Plants Valuable to Quail in Southwestern Texas". Journal of Wildlife Management. 5 (2): 131–135. doi:10.2307/3795575. JSTOR3795575.
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