Scaled quail

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Scaled quail
Scaled Quail (Callipepla squamata)

Scaled Quail ( Callipepla squamata )

Systematics
Row : Land vertebrates (Tetrapoda)
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Chicken birds (Galliformes)
Family : Toothed quail (Odontophoridae)
Genre : Callipepla
Type : Scaled quail
Scientific name
Callipepla squamata
( Vigors , 1830)

The scaled quail ( Callipepla squamata ) is a bird found in the semi-deserts of the southwestern United States and central Mexico .

description

With a body length of 22–29 cm , the scaled quail is smaller than a partridge and weighs 151–202 g. It is a relatively plump looking quail with a relatively short tail and rounded wings. The color is predominantly bluish-gray with an extensive scale pattern and a rather short but striking white feather hood. The beak is blackish; the legs and feet are gray. The iris is brown. The sexes differ only slightly. Hens are slightly smaller, have a slightly shorter bonnet and dark brown stripes on the head and throat.

In adult birds the head, upper side, wings and tail are colored gray-brown; the vertex feathers extended to the hood are white at the end. The blue-gray of the neck, the upper back and the chest runs towards the belly into the yellowish beige of the underside and the pale reddish yellow of the under tail-covers. The entire area looks strongly scaled by black feather hems. The flanks are gray and show wide, whitish shaft stripes. The inner shoulder feathers and arm wings are lined with white on the inner flags. The outer control feathers have a white lace hem.

Distribution and existence

The distribution area of ​​the scaled quail almost coincides with the extent of the Chihuahua Desert and the adjacent desert steppes. It stretches from southeastern Arizona , northern New Mexico , eastern central Colorado and southwestern Kansas south through western Oklahoma , western central and south Texas to north and central Mexico . There the area extends from northeast Sonora , Chihuahua and Coahuila eastwards to Nuevo León and Tamaulipas and southwards through Durango and San Luis Potosí to the northeast of Jalisco , to Guanajuato , Querétaro and the northwest of Hidalgos . Naturalizations or naturalization attempts have been made in Hawaii , central Washington , eastern Nevada, and Nebraska .

The scaled quail is not threatened, the population is estimated at over 1 million specimens. The species is a significant game in the United States and has declined sharply since the 1960s. The reasons for this are the destruction of semi-desert landscapes and the fight against mesquites . In Mexico, however, the species has benefited from clearing pine and oak forests and heavy overgrazing. It is quite common here.

Geographic variation

Four subspecies are recognized, which mainly differ in the color of the top. It is C. s. pallida the lightest form and C. s. castanogastris the darkest. This also has a chestnut-colored belly. C. s. hargravi is similar to the nominate form .

  • C. s. hargravi Rea , 1973 - southeastern Colorado, southwestern Kansas, northern New Mexico, western Oklahoma, and northwestern Texas
  • C. s. pallida Brewster , 1881 - from southern Arizona, southern New Mexico and western Texas to northern Chihuahua and northern Sonora
  • C. s. squamata ( Vigors , 1830) - northern Sonora and northern Tamaulipas south to the Valley of Mexico
  • C. s. castanogastris Brewster , 1883 - southern Texas and northeastern Mexico

habitat

The common quail inhabits semi-deserts and arid bush formations, preferring more varied areas with 1–7 m high shrubs and anthropogenic structures, but avoiding monotonous grasslands. The presence of water holes is often decisive for occurrence, but the species also accepts further flight routes for drinking. The altitude distribution extends from the plain to an altitude of 2,450 m, in Mexico from 1,000 to 2,000 m.

nutrition

The scaled quail shows a very broad spectrum of food, which mainly consists of seeds, but also of insects and green plant food or fruits. In Texas, seeds of Prosopis glandulosa , sunflowers , salt herbs and sorghum , leaves of Krameria lanceolata and tragacanth, as well as locusts and beetles were among the most common foods. In Mexico, seeds of bizarre , millet , grain wheels ( Agrostemma ), croton and sorghum halepense as well as fruits of mahonia or mahonia were eaten.

Reproduction

The breeding season of the scaled quail is quite late between June and September and sometimes extends into October, so that the conditions for second broods or clutches can be improved by summer and autumn rains.

The nest is usually built in the protective vegetation, such as under soap palm lilies , blue-green palm lilies , Salvia eremostachya or various grasses. The clutch usually consists of 12-14, more rarely 9-16 eggs, which are 32.5 × 25 mm in size and are speckled brown or white on a matt white background. They are incubated by the female for 21–23 days. The role of the sexes is partly unclear. Sometimes the male hardly participates in the breeding business, sometimes it takes over the entire rearing of the young while the female does a second brood.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Raethel (1988), p. 143f, see literature
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Madge (2002), p. 390f, see literature
  3. ↑ a b c d e Caroll (1994), p. 424, see literature

Web links

Commons : Callipepla squamata  - album with pictures, videos and audio files