Posts Tagged ‘quail’

Gambel Quail

This post, I decided to profile of one of our most common neighbors out here in the Superstition Mountains, the Gambel’s Quail. 

These little guys swarm all over the foothills, running in gangs called coveys.

Quail are mostly monogamous, and the male will raise the brood if the female is killed.  The flocks usually consist of up to 20 birds, mostly sisters and children of the original pair.

They have a regular cycle in their reproduction, and some years (mostly wetter years) have much higher populations than others. 

The Gambel’s quail is food for just about every predator out in these deserts, so a good year for the quail is a good year for all the other wildlife.  Coyotes, bobcats, hawks and owls, and even Roadrunners have been seen preying on these little guys.

They seem to prefer running on the ground to flying, but they can fly explosively fast and as high as they need to when they are startled.

Many people put out food for the birds here, but it pays to remember that a birdfeeder is a snake-feeder as well.  If you have a lot of quail, you have a lot of predators.

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Edited: January 20th, 2009