Mountain Quail

The Mountain Quail is the largest and arguably the most striking quail native to North America. It is a plump, ground-dwelling bird with a slate-gray breast, warm brown back, and bold chestnut-and-white barred flanks. Both sexes carry a single long, thin, straight black plume projecting from the crown, formed by two feathers held tightly together so they appear as one.

Despite its bold pattern, the Mountain Quail is famously hard to see, preferring to stay hidden in thick brush and running rather than flying when disturbed. It is best known to hikers and birders as a distant, far-carrying call echoing across steep canyon slopes.

Key field marks

• Long, straight, slender head plume (unlike the forward-curving plume of California and Gambel's Quail)
• Slate-gray face, throat, and breast with a chestnut throat patch bordered in white
• Bold chestnut flanks barred with white
• Larger and more upright-postured than other North American quail

Similar species

• California Quail and Gambel's Quail have a comma-shaped, forward-curving topknot rather than a straight plume, and lack the strongly barred chestnut flanks.
• Mountain Quail is also noticeably larger and more richly colored than either.

Habitat and Range

Mountain Quail occupy dense chaparral, montane brush fields, and shrubby forest edges from sea level up to subalpine elevations, generally favoring steep, brushy slopes with reliable water sources nearby.

Range

They are found along the Pacific coast and interior mountain ranges from Washington south through Oregon, California, and into Baja California, with scattered populations in Nevada and Idaho (some introduced).

Migration

Mountain Quail make one of the few true altitudinal migrations among North American gamebirds, walking on foot from high-elevation summer brushfields down to lower, snow-free wintering slopes rather than flying long distances.

Behavior

Mountain Quail are wary and secretive, usually running for cover through dense brush rather than flushing into flight. Coveys are typically small compared to other quail.

Voice

The advertising call is a loud, single, far-carrying "took" or "whoo-took" repeated at intervals, often the only clue to the bird's presence in thick cover.

Feeding

They forage on the ground and in low shrubs for seeds, green leaves, bulbs, berries, and some insects.

Nesting and breeding

Nests are simple scrapes on the ground lined with grass and leaves, well concealed under brush. Clutches typically contain 6-10 eggs, and chicks are precocial, leaving the nest and following the parents almost immediately after hatching.