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California Quail
Callipepla californica

DESCRIPTION:
California Quail
Codorniz de California
Lophortyx californica
Length: 270mm. Sexes unlike. Male: bill black; iris dark brown; forehead whitish cinnamon followed by a transversal white band and a black band that contrast with a brown cap; both bands extend beyond the ocular area around the posterior portion of the auriculars, which are black; chin, face, throat and foreneck black, framed by a white semicircular stripe which starts in the postocular area. Between the forehead and the crown, and the bands crossing them, there is a crest formed by straight black plumes curving forward, called top-knots. Hind neck is grey with wingtips stained with white and fringed with black; back olive brown; uppertail coverts and rectrices brownish grey; wing coverts and secondaries as back; primaries dark brown; the proximal edge of secondaries and tip of primaries is buff; upper breast plumbeous grey; flanks olive brown striated white; lower breast and abdomen ochraceous buff with black margin on feathers giving a scaly appearance; the centre of the abdomen is chestnut with same scaly markings as the rest of the underparts; undertail coverts olive brown with broad buffy margins. Legs brown.
Female: bill and iris as male; very short top-knot; forehead, brow, face, chin and throat whitish buff striated dark brown; crown, nape and upperparts olive brown; rectrices and wings as male; breast greyish brown;
flanks as male but with paler shades; underparts paler than male’s. Although plumage is not bright, the interesting patterns and combination of colours make it an attractive bird, readily identified also by its crest and small size. Habitat and behaviour: in groups or coveys of up to twenty or more individuals, they forage on shrub land and forest edges seeking for food; when startled they duck instantly for cover or fly off in different directions, confounding the pursuer.
They occur in Argentina, preferably in those ecotone areas where the forest penetrates the steppe through the sub- Andean foothills and where valleys are covered with shrubbery and typical grasses of the semiarid Patagonian steppe.
The nest is built hidden among vegetation in a hollow on the ground; up to fourteen white eggs with brown speckles are laid. Originally from the United States it was introduced many years ago and, according to the outstanding ornithologist Dr. Jorge R. Navas, this species has fitted into this environment and ecological niche, filling a vacant space and not driving away native species. Range: in Patagonia its present distribution includes the west of Neuquén, west of Río Negro and northwest Chubut, probably expanding further.
Illustrated Handbook of the Birds of California
Kindless: Kovacs Family
 
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Photographs: Mariano Diez Peña


Birding Patagonia • Birdwatcing in Bariloche, Patagonia, Argentina and Chile.
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Photographs on the website: Mariano Diez Peña