The Blue Scale — properly the Scaled Quail, and called 'cottontop' across its range — is the pale, dry-country quail of the southwestern grasslands and high desert. Its blue-grey plumage is edged so that the breast and back look tiled with scales, and the short crest is tipped a conspicuous dirty white. It would far rather run than fly, and a covey put up on foot will simply sprint away across open ground. Heat- and drought-hardy, it is a native game species and normally requires a permit to keep.
Heat tolerant
Broody
Flighty
Egg colorCream Spotted
TemperamentFlighty
BroodinessOccasional
ClimateHeat tolerant
PurposeOrnamental
Weight
Weight6-7 oz
How to spot it
Plumage
Blue-grey overall, each feather dark-edged for a scaled or fish-scale effect
Sex differences
Very similar; the male's throat is plainer and slightly buffier, the hen's finely streaked
Call
A nasal, guttural “pe-cos” note
Look for
The white-tipped crest over uniformly scaled blue-grey plumage — and a bird that runs instead of flushing
