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By Matthew Thomson
Geographic Range
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 ).
Habitat
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).
These animals are found in the following types of habitat:
temperate ; terrestrial .
Terrestrial Biomes:
desert or dune ; chaparral ; scrub forest .
Physical Description
(5.63 to 7.04 oz; avg. 6.34 oz)
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).
Some key physical features:
endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry .
Sexual dimorphism: male more colorful, ornamentation .
Reproduction
Breeding occurs once yearly.
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). (Brown et al., 1998)
Mating systems:
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.
Key reproductive features:
iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; fertilization (internal ); oviparous .
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 .
Behavior
Gambel's quail are fast runners and only fly to escape danger, cross obstacles like roads, or fly to a roost at night. They are not fast in flight and prefer to remain on the ground if possible. The birds are not territorial and population density depends on brood productivity, which varies depending on yearly climate. A typical covey usually consists of an adult pair and up to sixteen young. Each covey has a specific home range, but does not defend this area and coveys commonly travel and feed in each other's home ranges (Brown 1998).
Food Habits
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.
Predation
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 .
Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
This is a game bird, so presumably people eat them.
Ways that people benefit from these animals:
food .
Conservation Status
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.
Other Comments
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).
For More Information
Find Callipepla gambelii information at
Contributors
Matthew Thomson (author), University of Michigan.
Terry Root (editor), University of Michigan.
