Scaled Quail

Callipepla squamata

Every feather edged in white, like a bird wearing chainmail. Runs rather than flies, sprinting through desert scrub.

Population: ~5.1 million mature individuals (BirdLife International, 2019 estimate); long-term decline (~1.5%/yr, 1970-2017) but roughly stable to slightly increasing over the last decade
Habitat: Arid, sparsely vegetated grasslands, dry plains, foothills and rocky slopes with scattered shrubs, cacti (cholla, yucca), mesquite and condalia; occupies grassland and subtropical/tropical dry shrubland roughly 800-2,100 m elevation
Fun fact: Nicknamed the "cottontop" for its bushy white crest, the Scaled Quail forms tight, outward-facing circular roosts at night so every bird in the covey can watch for predators.
Range: Southwestern USA (south-central Arizona, New Mexico, southeastern Colorado, southwestern Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas panhandle) south through the Mexican Plateau to Jalisco, Guanajuato, Queretaro, Hidalgo and western Tamaulipas; introduced widely (Hawaii, Nebraska, Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico) but only established in central Washington State and eastern Nevada
Diet: Opportunistic omnivore: mostly seeds year-round (mesquite, snakeweed, broomweed, clover, grasses, hackberry, and agricultural grains) plus green vegetation and insects (grasshoppers, leaf-bugs, scarab and snout beetles, cicadas), especially in warmer months when insects supply moisture
Size: 0.28 m
Wingspan: 0.38 m
Lifespan: 6 years

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