Factors Affecting Quail Numbers
The Gambel's Quail has few predators. Bobcats, birds of prey and human hunters do take a substantial number of birds, but the main effect on the quails' population is the weather (Brown 1998). Temperature and rainfall are two key factors limiting the quails' reproductive success. Above average temperatures and below average rainfall usually leads to severe decline of the Gambel's Quail population. A year of high rainfall and below average temperatures causes a large increase in brood success and rapid population growth. These environmental factors greatly affect plant growth, which the birds feed upon, which in turn affects the birds' reproductive success (Heffelinger 1999). Studies have shown that the Gambel's Quail is susceptible to a hepatitus virus that may be comparable to a viral disease that the Bobwhite quail suffers from. Wild Gambel's quail have not been found with this disease however (Bradely 1994).
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Currently, there is no significant conservation effort to aide the Gamble's quail, but the bird is doing very well. Habitat degradation from urbanization and cattle grazing are possible threats to the bird. The Gambel's quail is an extremely popular game bird and there are few hunting restrictions. The season is long and the daily bag limit is fifteen birds. Hunters harvested an estimated 1,200,000 quail in 1994 and 1995. Current research shows however, that the main factor affecting the population size is variations in annual environmental conditions, mainly temperature and rainfall.
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
This is a game bird, so presumably people eat them.
Positive Impacts: food
Ninety percent of the Gambel's Quail diet comes from plants. Various types of seeds and leaves are eaten throughout the year. During certain times of year fruits and berries from cacti are eaten. A few insects are eaten during the nesting season in spring and early summer. The quails feed in groups while slowly traveling along the ground. Typically a covey feeds twice a day, morning and afternoon. Communication between group members is kept with calls. The birds typically rest in a shady area during the hottest parts of the day. During cooler weather, the birds may feed and remain active for longer time periods. The quail has little if any free water requirements, but does prefer to live near and will frequent a water source if one is available (Brown 1998).
Animal Foods: insects
Plant Foods: leaves; seeds, grains, and nuts; fruit
Primary Diet: herbivore (Granivore )
Gambel's quail are found almost exclusively in the southwestern United States, mainly in Arizona. Their range extends into Mexico, east to parts of Texas, west to California and a small part of southern Utah, Nevada and Colorado. A few quail were introduced to Hawaii in 1928, 1958 and 1960, and a few remain there today.
Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native ); oceanic islands (Introduced )
Gambel's Quail live in warm deserts with brushy and thorny vegetation. These birds also survive well in cultivated communities and prefer mesquite lined river valleys and drainages near these lands. Desert mountain foothills, mesquite springs, plains with diverse vegetation and any area of the desert receiving slightly more rainfall than surrounding parts, are all home to good populations of Gambel's quail. These quail are non-migratory and annual movements of the covey are less than 2 kilometers. Gambel's quail prefer to roost in dense shrubs or trees at night. Shade from various types of desert vegetation is also very helpful. Dense cover provides shelter from predators. Common plants found in the quails' habitat include: desert hackberry, mesquites, little leaf sumac, desert thorns, catclaw acacia, scrub oak, and various other types of desert shrubbery (Brown 1998).
Habitat Regions: temperate ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: desert or dune ; chaparral ; scrub forest
Average lifespan
Sex: male
Status: wild: 7.4 years.
Like other quails, Gambel's quail have a chunky round body with a plume on the head. Mature birds average eleven inches long and weigh from 160 to 200 grams (Brown 1998). Males have a dark and thick plume, a black face and neck and also a black patch on the breast. Females have more dull and thin plumes and lack these black markings. Mature males have much more striking plumage than females. This quail has chestnut sides, olive wings and various white and cream-colored markings (Brown 1998). Some variation in plumage occurs across its range; mainly birds being darker and more vividly colored in areas with more rainfall. Gambel's quail are known to hybridize with California and Scaled quails, but this is not very common (Brown 1998).
Range mass: 160 to 200 g.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: male more colorful; ornamentation
Average basal metabolic rate: 0.755 W.
These quail prefer to remain motionless and rely on camouflage to avoid predators, especially if hidden by vegetation. They are preyed on by a wide diversity of small to medium avian, mammalian, and saurian predators including snakes, raptors, foxes, bobcats, and coyote.
Anti-predator Adaptations: cryptic
Gambel's quail are considered monogamous, but sometimes a mature female will leave young with the male and seek another brood with a new father. In order to entice females, males offer small bits of food during feeding. Studies have shown that the rate of this process, called "tidbitting," is the basis for a females' selection of a mate (Brown 1998).
Mating System: monogamous
Female quail select nest sites usually on the ground. Preferably the nest is hidden under a shrub, rock, or protected site. Sometimes these quail may build in a tree two to ten meters off the ground if a suitable platform is available. The nest itself is bowl shaped, about four centimeters deep and thirteen to eighteen centimeters wide. Small twigs, grass stems, leaves and feathers line the nest. The eggs are dull white and are smooth, often containing brown spots. Average clutch size is ten to twelve eggs. During dryer years clutches tend to be smaller.
Breeding interval: Breeding occurs once yearly.
Average eggs per season: 10 to 12.
Range time to hatching: 22 to 23 days.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 1 years.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 1 years.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; fertilization (Internal ); oviparous
Average eggs per season: 11.
Females generally incubate the eggs for twenty-one to twenty-three days. Males will attempt incubation if the female dies or is unavailable. Both parents care for young, and if one parent dies the brood can be successfully raised by the remaining parent (Brown 1998). Young quail are capable of running around and feeding soon after hatching.
Parental Investment: precocial ; male parental care ; female parental care
This beautiful, conspicuous bird is easily recognized by the slender, plume-shaped crest on the head, which often curves forward, so that the tip is in front of the bill. Adult males have dark patches on throat and belly, while females and immatures lack these striking markings. The California quail (Callipepla californica) has a very similar appearance, but the feathers on the belly of this bird show a very distinctive scaly pattern, whereas the scales on the Gambel's Quail's belly are rather faint.
Gambel's Quail is native to the desert regions of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. They are gregarious, mostly ground-dwelling birds. In fall and winter, they gather into large groups called coveys. Quail travelling together often noisily communicate with one another. Their call is very distinctive. When sensing danger, these quail issue urgent alarm calls and quickly run away or fly off. They often seek refuge in trees and shrubs, and they roost in trees at night.
Gambel's quail (Callipepla gambelii) 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.
The species is not as widely introduced as the related California quail. It was, however, released on San Clemente Island in 1912 by Charles T. Howland et al., where it is currently still established.[2]
The Callipepla gambelii birds are easily recognized by their top knots and scaly plumage on their undersides. Gambel's quail have bluish-gray plumage on much of their bodies, and males have copper feathers on the top of their heads, black faces, and white stripes above their eyes. The bird's average length is 11 in (28 cm) with a wingspan of 14–16 in (36–41 cm). These birds have relatively short, rounded wings and long, featherless legs. Its diet consists primarily of plant matter and seeds.[3]
Gambel's quail can be commonly confused with California quail due to similar plumage. They can usually be distinguished by range, but when this does not suffice, California quail have a more scaly appearance and the black patch on the lower breast of the male Gambel's quail is absent in the California quail. The two species are sister taxa which diverged during the Late Pliocene or Early Pleistocene, 1 to 2 mya.[4]
There are two recognized subspecies:[5]
Gambel's quail primarily move about by walking and can move surprisingly fast through brush and undergrowth. They are a non-migratory species and are rarely seen in flight. Any flight is usually short and explosive, with many rapid wingbeats, followed by a slow glide to the ground. In the late summer, fall, and winter, the adults and immature young congregate into coveys of many birds. In the spring, Gambel's quail pair off for mating and become very aggressive toward other pairs. The chicks are decidedly more insectivorous than adults, gradually consuming more plant matter as they mature. Gambel's quail are monogamous and rarely breed in colonies. The female typically lays 10–12 eggs in a simple scrape concealed in vegetation, often at the base of a rock or tree. Incubation lasts from 21–23 days, usually performed by the female and rarely by the male. The chicks are precocial, leaving the nest with their parents within hours of hatching.[6]
A pair at Indianapolis Zoo (male on left and female on right)
Male and female Gambel's quail in Mesa, Arizona
Gambel's Quail nest in San Tan Valley, AZ
Adults with chicks
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Gambel's quail chicks at Joshua Tree National Park
Male
Female
Gambel's quail (Callipepla gambelii) 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.
The species is not as widely introduced as the related California quail. It was, however, released on San Clemente Island in 1912 by Charles T. Howland et al., where it is currently still established.
