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Gambels Quail (Callipepla gambelii)

Gambel’s Quail can be found in the warmest deserts, thriving among the brushy and thorny vegetation. Their unique and plaintive calls can be heard at all times of the day. I painted this handsome male, calling away from his perch on a flowering Prickly Pear cactus with one the females of his covey secretly admiring him from below. As well, these social birds are equally comfortable in a variety of urban communities, especially those with mesquite lined river valleys and drainages nearby. They favor desert mountain foothills, mesquite springs, plains with diverse vegetation and any area of the desert receiving slightly more rainfall than surrounding parts, these are all home to good populations of Gambel’s quail. Being non-migratory, the annual movements of the covey are less than a mile or so. They prefer to roost in dense shrubs or trees at night. Shade from various types of desert vegetation is also very helpful. Dense cover provides shelter from predators. Common plants found in the quails’ habitat include: desert hackberry, mesquites, little leaf sumac, desert thorns, catclaw acacia, scrub oak, and various other types of desert shrubbery….