Overview
The chestnut brown belly distinguishes it from all other subspecies; it is also darker than the other two found in the USA.
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Bird
- Family
- Odontophoridae
- Genus
- Callipepla
- Species
- squamata castanogastris
Habitat
Inhabit dry, open valleys, plains, foothills, rocky slopes, draws, gullies, and canyons that have a mixture of bare ground, low herbaceous growth, and scattered brushy cover. Good scaled quail habitat is characterized by low-growing grasses with forbs and shrubs. Overall ground cover is between 10 and 50%. Trees and shrubs should be less than 6.6 feet tall. Scaled quail avoid the dense growth associated with streamsides. Transmitter-fitted scaled quail had individual home range sizes of 52 and 60 acres. Scaled quail gravitate towards structure, old homesteads and barns.
Diet
Seeds, insects, plant material, berries.
Behavior
A very social bird, living in large covey groups most of the year. Pairs are formed March through late summer-early fall. As ground dwelling bird, much of their day is consumed by evading predators. At night a roost is formed by a group of birds cricling on the ground with heads facing outwards. When threatened the bird runs from bush to bush seeking cover, as a last resort the bird will birds into a short highspeed flight. The Scaled Quail flys less readily than a Northern Bobwhite, therefore making it a less desirable bird for wingshooters hunting over dogs.
Hunting
Upland game bird most effectivily hunted with bird dogs.
Conservation Status
Listed as Least Concern by IUCN.