California Quail, Callipepla californica

California Quail, Callipepla californica. Photo taken in the greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Sur, March 2017.

The California Quail, Calllipepla californica, is a member of the Odontophoridae Family of New World Quail. They are mid-sized in stature. In Mexico they are found throughout Baja California and Baja California Sur at elevations below 2,800 m (9,200 feet). From a conservation perspective the California Quail is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are found in chaparral, sagebrush scrub, and grassland oak, inhabit riparian and foothill woodlands, and disturbed humid forest lands. They consume seeds and green leafage of legumes and annual grasses and limited amounts of fruits and seeds of shrubs, buckbrush, poison oak and buckwheat.