Gambel's Quail is the desert counterpart to the California Quail, at home across the Sonoran and Mojave and into the southwestern scrub. It carries the same forward-curving topknot, but the belly is plain buff rather than scaled, and the male wears a solid black patch on his lower breast that no California Quail has. Coveys run between cover on foot rather than flying, and the bird handles serious desert heat. Like the other natives it is generally a permitted species, kept for aviaries and release rather than eggs or meat.
Heat tolerant
Broody
Flighty
Egg colorCream Spotted
Egg production50–90 / year
TemperamentFlighty
BroodinessOccasional
ClimateHeat tolerant
PurposeOrnamental
Weight
Weight5-7 oz
How to spot it
Plumage
Pale unscaled buff belly, chestnut crown and chestnut flanks streaked with white
Sex differences
Male has a black face, a black belly patch and a chestnut cap; the hen lacks all three and has a shorter plume
Call
A querulous, nasal four-note call
Look for
Teardrop topknot plus a PLAIN belly — the black belly patch on a male settles it against a California Quail
