(Callipepla californica)
Length: 9.4 to 10.6 inches.
Weight: 4.9 to 8.1 oz
Wingspan: 12.6 to 14.6 inches.
Lifespan: The oldest known California Quail was 6 years 11 months old.
Diet consists of mainly of seeds. Typically 70% of items eaten are vegetarian -- leaves, flowers, catkins, grain, manzanita and poison oak berries, and acorns. Birds will also consume invertebrates such as caterpillars, beetles, mites, millipedes, and snails.
Non-migratory. Quail will rarely move more than 10 miles from where they hatched.
Nest built of
Clutch size: 12 to 16 white/creamy eggs with varied brown spots. 1 to 2 broods per year.
Incubation: 22 to 23 days. Chicks are covered in brownish down at hatch.
As a precocial species chicks are able to walk, peck at the ground for food, and follow adult Quail on the first day of hatching.
References
- "California Quail, Life History". All about birds, The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved October, 2016.
- "California Quail". Audubon Guide to North American Birds. Retrieved October, 2016.
- "California Quail". Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved October, 2016.