Mountain
Quail Oreortyx pictus
Even
though it is often passes unnoticed by birders unfamiliar with its calls,
the Mountain Quail is one of the commonest birds in San Diego County’s higher foothills and
mountains. The dense chaparral clothing these mountains is the quail’s
preferred habitat. In April and May the slopes echo with the Mountain
Quail’s ventriloquial calls, yet only the hiker
on the trail at dawn has a good chance of actually seeing the birds.
In spite of its preference for dense vegetation, the Mountain Quail recolonizes recovering burned chaparral quickly, ahead of
some other seemingly more mobile birds.
Breeding
distribution:
The Mountain Quail occurs in all of San Diego County’s mountains, up to near
the summit of Hot Springs Mountain (11, including a brood
of chicks, 3 June 2000, K. L. Weaver, C. R. Mahrdt). Most of our higher counts are from the higher
elevations, with as many as 34 per day on the north slope of Palomar Mountain
(D15) 14 May 1999 (K. L. Weaver) and 30 in the Laguna Mountains from Oasis
Spring to Garnet Peak (N23) 24 May 2001 (K. J. Winter). But the
quail is not a bird of coniferous forest, except where an understory
of chaparral grows near the trees, and it ranges well below the county’s
higher mountains. On the coastal slope of southern San Diego County
it extends down to about 2000 feet elevation, but in the county’s northwestern
corner, in the Santa Margarita Mountains, it ranges down to the bases
of the steep hills, down to about 450 feet elevation along San Mateo Creek
(up to five on 12 June 2001, M. Fugagli).
The Mountain Quail is rare along the Santa Margarita River in Temecula Canyon (C8; only record 1997–2002
is of one on 24 May 1997, K. L. Weaver), and the range is broken between
there and the west base of Palomar Mountain.
In central San Diego County outlying localities on
the west are Orosco Ridge (I14; 14 on 12
May 2000,
R. L. Barber) and El Capitan County Open Space Preserve (N15; one on 14
April 2001,
R. C. Sanger). In southern San Diego County the Mountain Quail ranges
west to Lyons (S17) and Mother Grundy peaks, with isolated populations
on the east slope of McGinty Mountain (R15;
five on 11 March 2000, J. R. Barth) and near
the top of Sycuan Peak (R16; one on 30 April 2001, P. Unitt) and over
most of Otay Mountain (U15/U16/V15; up to five
on the north slope, U15, 25 May 1999, G. L. Rogers) and Tecate
Peak (V18; three on 10 May 2001, D. C. Seals). The population on
Otay Mountain is not completely isolated from the main range
of the species, as shown by an adult with four chicks about 1600 feet
elevation near Dulzura Summit on Highway 94
on 11 July 2000 (D. W. Povey, his only record
of the species at this site in 17 years).
On the east side of the mountains, the Mountain Quail occurs in desert-edge
scrub, though more sparsely than in dense chaparral. Probably to
drink at springs, the birds come rarely all the way to the base of the
mountains, where we recorded them at 2050 feet at Mortero
Palms (S29; two on 18 April 1999, P. Unitt, A. Mauro) and at 1000 feet
elevation near Whitaker Horse Camp (D24), site of three observations in
April 2001 (maximum four birds on 4 April, J. O. Zimmer). Small
outlying populations live in the Pinyon Mountains (J23/J24/K24) and in the
Santa Rosa Mountains (C27/D27/D28).
The Mountain Quail is common in the mountains of northern Baja California, but there is a partial
break in the range along the Mexican border on the Campo Plateau, perhaps
due to the region’s flatter topography. According to Brennan et
al. (1987), rugged terrain is not a prerequisite for the Mountain Quail,
but the association between the quail and steep slopes is as strong in
San Diego County as elsewhere.
Nesting: The Mountain Quail nests
on the ground, sheltered by a shrub, branch, or rock. One nest we
found was protected on all sides by being wedged between an overhanging
rock and a small yucca. Our observations imply the species lays
from early April to at least early June.
Winter: The Mountain Quail is less
vocal and so more easily overlooked in winter than in spring. Nevertheless,
large flocks are seen occasionally in winter, up to 40 in Barker Valley
(E16) 21 February 2001 (J. O. Zimmer), 40 in (K21) 7 February 1999 (A.
Mauro), and 60 near Shingle Spring (D21) 23 December 2000 (L. J. Hargrove).
The Mountain Quail migrates altitudinally in the Sierra Nevada but there is as yet no
evidence for such a migration in San Diego County. The birds occur
as high as the summit of Hot Springs Mountain in some winters, at least
(up to two on 9 December 2000, K. L. Weaver, C. R. Mahrdt). Comparison of snowy winters with dry ones might
reveal some annual variation. The few atlas
squares where we recorded the Mountain Quail in winter but not summer
are probably all areas where it is resident in small numbers year round.
Conservation: Though the Mountain Quail
has declined in abundance at the northern end of its range, in San Diego County it remains common with
no suggestion of change. Its preferred habitat is little disturbed
and much lies within the Cleveland National Forest and Palomar, Cuyamaca, and Anza–Borrego Desert state parks. The
primary factor affecting the Mountain Quail’s habitat is fire. Yet
the species seems little affected by fires. A study comparing mature
and young (average age six years) chaparral near Pine Valley found the
Mountain Quail the eighth commonest bird in the young chaparral, the sixth
commonest in the old. The quail was more numerous in the mature
chaparral but the difference was not statistically significant (Cleveland National Forest unpubl.
data). The abundance of food in the young chaparral, still dominated
by herbs, may compensate for the reduced cover that may expose the birds
to greater predation.
Taxonomy: Because Friedmann (1946) questioned the validity of O. p. eremophilus van Rossem, 1937,
to which San Diego County Mountain Quail have long been assigned, I investigated
the species’ variation in color with a Minolta CR-300 colorimeter.
Oreortyx p. eremophilus (type locality Argus Mountains, Inyo County,
California) may be valid after all, distinguished from nominate O.
p. pictus (Douglas, 1829; type locality
confluence of Willamette and Santiam rivers,
Oregon) by its paler back and from O. p. confinis
Anthony, 1889 (type locality Sierra San Pedro Mártir,
Baja California) by its paler breast. Colorimeter readings of the
darkness (L) of the lower back range from 24.1 to 28.7 in 14 October–January
specimens from eastern Oregon (nominate pictus)
but from 30.4 to 32.0 in four October specimens from the Argus Mountains
(eremophilus). Readings of the breast range from
33.8 to 37.7 in 19 specimens from the Sierra San Pedro Mártir
(confinis) but 38.1 to 39.6 in the four
specimens from the Argus Mountains.
Twenty specimens from San Diego County are much closer to confinis than to eremophilus;
they range in breast darkness from 33.3 to 38.4. A t test
revealed that the mean of the San Diego County sample (36.4) is not significantly
different from that of the Sierra San Pedro Mártir
sample (36.0; p = 0.16)
California
Quail Callipepla
californica
Over
much of San Diego County, the California Quail remains common, occurring year round in sage scrub, broken
chaparral, open woodland, and desert oases. In rural areas where
buildings are scattered amid natural vegetation the quail persists.
But once the natural areas are surrounded by development the quail begins
to disappear. Habitat fragmentation is accompanied by an increase
in disturbance, exotic weeds, predators, and other negative factors still
to be identified, bad news for all birds, like the California Quail, that
nest on the ground.
Breeding
distribution:
The California Quail is found throughout San Diego County’s coastal slope except
in extensively forested areas and where it has been eliminated by development.
Our daily counts in this area ran as high as 200 in Boden Canyon (I14) 13 April
2000
(R. L. Barber) and 136 at Barrett Lake (S19) 18
June 2000
(R. and S. L. Breisch). The quail is at
least as abundant on the desert slope, concentrating in large numbers
around water (up to 200 around Scissors Crossing, J22, 22 March
2000,
E. C. Hall; 150 at Vallecito County Park, M25, 12
May 1999,
M. C. Jorgensen). It does not reach the summits of Hot Springs Mountain or Cuyamaca Peak but ranges uncommonly up
to nearly 6000 feet in the Laguna Mountains (two near Wooded Hill,
P23, 21 June 1998, A. Klovstad,
C. Mann).
The California Quail extends onto the floor of
the Anza–Borrego Desert, where it overlaps the
range of Gambel’s Quail. From 1997 to
2001, we found the species to be even more widespread than reported and
mapped by A. G. Morley (in Massey 1998). The distributions of both
species are dynamic, changing over rather brief periods, probably as a
result of cycles of wet and dry years and in response to the artificial
availability of water at human settlements. During the atlas period,
we found the California Quail regularly east to Coyote Creek to all developed areas
in the Borrego Valley (male with six chicks at
the Borrego sewage ponds, H25, 25 May 1998, P. D. Jorgensen), Tamarisk
Grove, and Vallecito and Carrizo creeks east
to Carrizo Marsh (O29, up to 25 on 25 April
2001,
M. C. Jorgensen). Occasional birds occurred slightly farther east
even in the breeding season: one on the north side of Clark Dry Lake (D25)
19 April 1998 (P. K. Nelson), 20 at San Felipe Narrows (I25) 10 April
1999 (P. K. Nelson), one in Harper Canyon (J26) 18 April 2000 (M. B. Mulrooney),
and one along Pictograph Trail (L25) 21 June 2001 (R. Thériault).
Nesting: The California Quail nests usually on the ground, concealing the nest in leaf
litter, a clump of grass, or a hollow under a shrub. Its nesting
season varies with rainfall. The quail usually begins nesting about
the end of March, as chicks are seen regularly from the last week of April.
In most years the last clutch is laid around the end of June, but in wet
years the birds continue later. In 1998 we noted chicks still flightless
near Iron Mountain (M13) as late as 28 August (M. and B. McIntosh), implying
egg laying near the end of July. The quail occasionally nests
at other times of year, as reported by Belding (1890). From 1997
to 2001 our only record of unseasonal breeding
was of fledglings along Forester Creek (Q14) 3 March
1999
(J., E., and K. Berndes).
Winter: The California Quail’s pattern of abundance in winter is much the same as
in the breeding season, as expected for a sedentary species. The
birds can be seen in large coveys from the time the young fledge through
the winter. Our highest winter count was of 160 in Thing Valley
(Q24) 25
December 2001
(J. R. Barth).
Conservation: Though the California Quail comes into backyards in residential areas if these are
adjacent to native vegetation, it is unable to adapt to urbanization.
Furthermore, it suffers from habitat fragmentation, disappearing from
patches of native scrub surrounded by development. This sensitivity
is shown well by Crooks et al. (2001), who found the quail in 13 of 30
isolated canyons in San Diego surveyed in 1987 but only
four of these canyons when they were resurveyed in 1997. No canyon
where the quail was absent in 1987 was recolonized
ten years later. Crooks et al. (2001) projected that the quail has
a 95% chance of surviving 100 years only in habitat fragments of 173 hectares
or larger. The quail persists on Point Loma (S7), where about 365
hectares of scrub remain, isolated for decades. Outside San Diego, atlas results show the
California Quail already gone from areas as large
as an atlas square in El Cajon (Q13), Escondido (J11), and Oceanside (H5).
In contrast to its retreat from urbanization along the coast, the quail
has evidently benefited from settlement in the Anza–Borrego Desert. The species’ spread
through the developed areas of the Borrego Valley may be quite recent.
In the 1970s only Gambel’s Quail was known in
this area (Unitt 1984), though the California has always occurred down
to the eastern bases of the county’s mountains.
Taxonomy: The subspecies of the
California Quail in San Diego County is C. c. californica (Shaw, 1798), intermediate between a darker,
browner subspecies in coastal northern California and a paler one in Baja California.
Gambel’s Quail Callipepla
gambelii
By
and large, Gambel’s Quail replaces the California
Quail in the desert Southwest, but in San Diego County the situation is far more
complex. Both species occur in the Anza–Borrego Desert, leading to considerable
hybridization. Gambel’s is always common
in the Borrego Valley, in mesquite thickets,
saltbush, orchards, and residential areas alike. But elsewhere its
distribution is unstable, perhaps varying with rainfall. Its occurrence
in San Diego County at all may be a recent
colonization.
Breeding
distribution:
The Borrego Valley is the core of the distribution
of Gambel’s Quail in San Diego County. The species is found
throughout the valley but during the breeding season appears most numerous
in the mesquite bosque in the center of the
valley (G25), with up to 30 on 11 March 1997 (R. Thériault).
Mesquite seeds are a major component
of the quail’s diet (Brown et al. 1998). The birds also occur in
mesquites on the west and north sides of Clark Dry Lake (D25/D26), with up to 15
in D26 on 11 March 2000 (P. K. Nelson). From
there they extend in a narrow zone around the base of the Santa Rosa Mountains, where they are sparse
except in the northeastern corner of the county (C29; up to 24, including
17 juveniles, on 23 June 1998, R. Thériault).
On the east side of the Vallecito Mountains
Gambel’s Quail is rare and irregular; the only records from
this area are of one calling male in Cactus Garden (I27) 26 April 2000
(P. K. Nelson) and three at the mouth of the canyon of Alma Wash (K28)
4 May 1999 (L. J. Hargrove).
In other parts of the Anza–Borrego Desert the California is the predominant or exclusive
species of quail. Gambel’s, however, colonized
the area of Yaqui Well (I24) apparently beginning
in 1982 (ABDSP database). We found it in this area in the breeding
season regularly, with up to eight on 25 April 1999 (P. K. Nelson), as
well as just to the southeast on Mescal Bajada
(J25), with up to eight on 12 June 1998 (M. and B. McIntosh), and once
just to the west on Yaqui Flat (I23), with a
pair on 26 May 1998 (P. K. Nelson)
Gambel’s Quail has also invaded the range of
the California by spreading up into the
canyons draining into the Borrego Valley, going as high as 3400
feet at Peña Spring (G23; up to five on 10 April
1999, M. L. Gabel; one photographed 6 November 1999, L. J. Hargrove).
It has occurred in small numbers in Culp Valley (G23/H23) at least since
1992 (M. L. Gabel). One had cleared the mountain crest by about
0.5 mile and was at about 4100 feet elevation at the east edge of Montezuma
Valley (H22) 26 May 2000 (P. D. Jorgensen).
In the southern Anza–Borrego Desert Gambel’s
Quail is apparently irregular, though its history could be clouded by
misidentification. There is no record in the state park database
from this area earlier than 1978. From to 1993 to 1995 Paul and
Mark Jorgensen found both the California and Gambel’s
Quails common at Carrizo Marsh (O29), with up to 80 Gambel’s
2 May 1993. Yet from 1997 to
2002 the same observers found only the California here. Smaller numbers
were noted, perhaps irregularly, to 1995 at Vallecito
(M25), Agua Caliente
Springs (M26), Palm Spring (N27), Indian Gorge (O27), and Bow Willow Campground
(P27), but from 1997 to 2002 the only reports by a reliable observer were
from Vallecito in 2000, of a remarkable 60 on 31 January followed
by two on 30 March 2000 (R. Thériault).
Nesting: Like the other quails,
Gambel’s nests usually on the ground, under the protection
of a shrub. Nearly all of our confirmations of Gambel’s
Quail breeding were of chicks following their parents. Dates of
these observations extend from 10 May to 12 July, suggesting egg laying
from about mid April to early June. Both the latest and earliest
dates were in 1998, suggesting that nesting begins earlier and lasts later
in wet years than in dry ones.
Winter: Gambel’s
Quail is nonmigratory, but we found it in winter
in a few places where it was lacking in the breeding season. Most
notable among these were the Coyote Creek region (C23/D23/D24), where
we had only three reports from 1997 to 2002, even though A. G. Morley
and K. Smeltzer (in Massey 1998) found it a
common breeding resident at Lower Willows (D23) from 1993 to 1995.
Thus the situation at Lower Willows parallels that at Carrizo Marsh, a
range expansion followed by a contraction.
In the San Felipe Creek drainage P. K. Nelson noted Gambel’s
Quail in winter twice at outlying localities, Angelina Spring (I22; 15
on 2 December 1999) and San Felipe Narrows (I25; 11 on 4 February 2000).
By far our most remarkable Gambel’s Quail record,
however, is from the coastal slope, along Temecula Creek just west of
Dameron Valley (C15). On 3
February 2001
K. L. Weaver studied three Gambel’s loosely
associated with a flock of California Quail.
There are no previous records of Gambel’s Quail
on the coastal slope of California.
Conservation: Gambel’s
Quail was first reported from San Diego County in 1927, when local residents
told Abbott (1928a) that the species was common in the Borrego Valley and collected two specimens.
The Anza–Borrego Desert was barely explored ornithologically before then, so whether the discovery represented
a recent colonization is uncertain. Reports outside the Borrego Valley before about 1980 may all
represent misidentified California Quail, as
none came from well-known reliable observers; all county specimens are
from the Borrego Valley only. At some popular
birding spots like Yaqui Well it is certain
that Gambel’s Quail is a recent colonist.
The record from Temecula Creek recalls the occurrence of other desert
birds like the Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, and
Black-throated Sparrow in the Aguanga/Dameron
Valley area. It may reflect range expansion west through Riverside County not detected until it reached
San Diego County, an expansion paralleling
that of the Ladder-backed Woodpecker and possibly a response to a drying
climate. On the other hand, Gambel’s Quail
has been transplanted outside its native range as a game bird, and the
record from Temecula Creek could have resulted from some unreported introduction.
In spite of an apparent trend of expansion, Gambel’s
Quail clearly retracted from some marginal areas in the mid 1990s.
This may have continued into the atlas period, as implied by our finding
the species along Alma Wash on the first visit in 1999 only. In
desert wildernesses, the fluctuations are likely due to variations in
rainfall and possibly to interactions with the California Quail,
which are still not understood in detail. Population cycles of boom
and bust are typical of Gambel’s Quail (Brown
et al. 1998).
Taxonomy: Hybridization between the
California and Gambel’s
Quails is routine. Up to 11 hybrids have been reported on Anza–Borrego
Christmas bird counts. Massey (1998) reported hybrids from numerous
sites including Chariot Canyon (K21), well outside the known range of
Gambel’s Quail. Atlas observers noted mixed pairs in
Borrego Palm Canyon (F23) 1 July 1998 (L. J. Hargrove) and in
the Borrego Valley (E25) 24 April 2000 (P. D. Ache). Just
to the north of San Diego County, in Deep Canyon in the Santa Rosa Mountains, Gee (2003) found that
60% of 500 quail trapped in a zone of overlap were hybrids. She
observed mating of the two species to be random in the wild yet species-specific
when tested with birds in captivity.
Nominate C. g. gambelii (Gambel,
1847) is the only subspecies of Gambel’s Quail
in California.