A Pop Quiz...How Many California Quail in the Picture?

Just a fun little moment on the Tuolumne River the other day. I was walking on an embankment above the river flood plain and heard some kind of bird commotion down below. I couldn't see much of anything until I zoomed in and picked up a California Quail (Callipepla californica) in front of the shrubs. And then I saw, well, a nice example of camouflage in nature. So here's your pop quiz...how many quail are in this picture??

California Quail on the Tuolumne River

The California Quail (Callipepla californica) is not an uncommon bird (especially in California, where it is our state bird). But I don't see it all that often on the Tuolumne River Parkway trail in Waterford. The trail has become rather popular, which is a good thing, but it does mean that these mostly ground-dwelling birds don't really like to hang out on the trail so much. I looked it up, and I haven't seen any since last January. But there are a couple of offshoot trails leading to fishing spots and the like, and I'll occasionally step off the beaten track, and will sometimes see some interesting species.

Today, it was an entire covey of eleven or twelve quail. I only got a pair of them in a picture before they scattered into the brush.

California's State Bird at Richardson Grove State Park

Our recent journey took us across a wide swath of the Pacific Northwest, our desperate (and successful) effort to find cooler places. One of our first stops was beautiful Richardson Grove State Park on Highway 101 on the South Fork of the Eel River. It was a rest stop on a long drive so we didn't have much chance of sighting birds, but we did come across a rather beautiful California Quail (Callipepla californica) at the edge of the forest.

I have wondered at times why the California Quail was selected as our state bird. Yes, California is in the name of the bird, but they are found all the way from Baja California to British Columbia. I would have picked the California Condor, although the fate of the bird was still in question. Even today it is functionally extinct in the wild (there are several hundred that were bred in captivity, but they haven't developed a sustainable population in the wild yet). They could have picked our endemic, the Yellow-billed Magpie. What do you think?

California Quail at Pinnacles National Park

The California drought, five years and counting, has had a devastating effect on the state, but some areas in Northern California were a bit closer to normal precipitation this past year. One sign of improvement would be a rebound in bird populations. After five years of limited plant growth, a wet year would mean more food and shelter.

I have no idea if that is actually the explanation, but during our field studies journey through Pinnacles National Park this last weekend, I saw hundreds of California Quail (Callipepla californica), instead of the usual dozens. I saw most of them as we drove along the roads, but when I walked the lower part of Bear Gulch, this female stuck around just long enough for a picture.

The California Quail is the state bird of California, but its range extends from the southern tip of Baja California north to the Canadian border. They are mainly ground-dwellers, moving about in large coveys. By preference, they melt into the vegetation when an intruder comes near, but will fly for cover if startled.