Bird Quail Identification

According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, six species of quail exist in the United States. The species with by far the largest geographic range of the six is the northern bobwhite, a bird familiar to hunters and those who live near woodlands. Quail typically blend in with their environment and stay on the ground for the most part. Identification of these species is possible by knowing their features, calls and ranges.

  1. Size

    • Quails are chicken-like in their size. The mountain quail is the heaviest of the American quails, with a weight of up to 9.2 oz. and a length between 10 and 12 inches; the scaled quail is as long as 13.8 inches, but it is lighter than the mountain version. In contrast, the bobwhite is 8 to 11 inches long and The Gambel's quail is as long as 13.8 inches with a wingspan of 15 inches in the largest specimens. The California quail resembles the bobwhite in size, and a Montezuma quail may be up to 9 inches long.

    Features

    • Adjectives such as "plumb," "chunky" and "tubby" describe all species of American quail, as the birds have a rounded appearance. Quails possess a very short neck along with a diminutive bill, a small head and a squared tail. Quails such as the Gambel's, mountain and California species have a set of feathers that form a topknot on the head, standing up and extending over the forehead like a comma. The bobwhite and Montezuma quail have a small rounded head; the head of the scaled quail has a small crest on it, much like that of a cardinal.

    Colors

    • The colors of quail species differ, with the bobwhite a mix of browns and whites that allow it to travel about protected by its camouflage. The Montezuma quail features a black and white face, black chin and a spotted chest. The California quail has gray and brown colors with a black face highlighted by white stripes. The mountain quail has a gray-blue chest and upper back, a chestnut neck and wings of brown and white. The scaled quail has feathers of gray and brown, while the Gambel's quail has a black face to go with a combination of gray, creamy white and chestnut colors on its body.

    Geography

    • Identifying a quail in the eastern states should not be problematic, as only the northern bobwhite resides east of the Mississippi River. The bobwhite inhabits states as far to the west as eastern New Mexico and Colorado, where its range intersects with the scaled quail. The ranges of the scaled quail, the Gambel's quail and the Montezuma quail overlap in parts of the Southwest. The California quail and the mountain quail share a similar range in the West Coast states, but are the only two quail species where they live.

    Quail Calls

    • The call of the bobwhite quail gives the species its name, a "bob-bob-white" sound that it repeats. The Gambel's quail produces a nasal-sounding "ka-kaa-ka" call, and the mountain quail makes a "quee-ark" call with a pair of sharp notes. The shrieking call of the scaled quail sounds like the bird is crying "pe-cos." A Montezuma quail makes a buzzing sound combined with whistles of differing pitches, and the "chi-ca-go" call of the California quail is unmistakable.