Welcome to Colleen’s Corner. This is a column meant for fun and some information About myself: I am a Freelance Photographer you often see me on the side of the road or in various places taking photos of different things animals, birds, places, people etc. l have lived in Lumby just over 8 years you have seen my photos in the newspaper (Lumby Valley Times) and once in awhile in the Vernon Morning Star, and the Lumby Art Gallery. Photography is my passion. Disclaimer: The information on some of my photos that I write about a lot of times come from the Internet or books I research them, hopefully the facts are as close to the truth as I can come.
While we were in Arizona we came across some Quails. They look similar to our California Quails but they have some differences. Their name is Gambel’s Quail. Instead of having a bluish grey head they have a redhead. They also live in the Southwest desert that has thorny and brushy vegetation and hang around cactus. They also seem to be a bit slightly larger. Although they live in a different climate they like to eat the same things as the California Quail. To attract them to your yard you can bring out the tasty foods such as cracked corn, millet, milo, and of course sunflower seeds. Their diet also consists of eating grasses and shrubs, cactus fruits, berries, and insects.
When it’s time to take a mate the male can be seen on a fence post, a tree, or even a shrub making a noise which is often called a cow call. The male will display foraging called tid-bitting, when the female is close the male will have his legs extended, then fan out his tail, and will stand with his head close to the ground with his tail in the air. Sometimes for extra enticement he will also offer the female some food. The Gambel’s Quail is usually monogamous, but there are times when the female will leave a male and her chicks and find another male to have a clutch with this would leave her first mate raising the chicks by himself , luckily the Quails are very social and help other quails raise the chicks.
When the pair start to build they make a nest like a bowl shape made from twigs on the outside and lined inside with grass stems, some feathers, and some leaves. about 1.5 inches deep and about 5-7 inches going across.
The clutch size is about 5-15 eggs. They will usually have 1-2 broods. The tiny eggs length is about 1.1-1.3 inches, while the width is about 0.9- 1.0 inches. The time of incubation is about 21-31 days. The egg color is a dull white or buff and they have brown- cinnamon patches. Before hatching the female will call to her chicks, and they will cheep to each other from the inside of their eggs. The chicks will hatch in synchrony, and each chick will cut a hole in the larger part of the eggshell which will have an intact membrane piece which serves as a hinge, the chicks will then push out the shell and climb out. When the chicks are hatched they are already covered in dense down, and can leave their nest right away and are able to follow their parents.
The Gambel’s Quail has a short life of about 1.5 years in the wild, while living in captivity their lives can be about 5 years. They have a lot of predators like Coyotes, Bobcats, Snakes, Birds of Prey, and of course humans.
Like the Quails we have here they are fun to watch as they scurry around quickly bobbing in and out of the bushes.
