Quail Hunting Info >> Quail Hunts

The Scaled Quail ( Callipepla squamata ) is dressed in bluish-gray and buff tones with black tripped feathers on its breast, back and neck giving them a scaled appearance and a truly unique name. The scaled quail is 11 inches long and their weight is between 5 and 7 ounces with a wingspan of 14 inches. Both the male and female are topped with a white, cotton-like crest on the head. Regarding the differences between the male and female quail, there are only a few, one of these differences is the fact that the female has light stripes on its chin. The scaled quail “earned” nicknames like the cottontop and blue quail thanks to its crest and the coloring.

The scaled quail is mainly found in the southwest parts of Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. These birds prefer open grasslands strewn with mesquite and shrubbery. This bird is a respectable runner, capable of reaching speeds up to 15 miles per hour. Due to the fact that grasslands offer very little cover, the quail is able to detect and outrun predators from great distances. The scaled quail is known to be a very nervous bird and even if flushed, it will return to running once back on the ground.

These birds live in groups that are called coveys ( throughout the winter months of the year ). A normal covey has from 20 to 50 birds. They roost together in circles, tail to tail, which really helps reduce their vulnerability to incoming predators. These coveys break up when spring comes in order to form breeding pairs. Just like the turkey, the male scaled quail will strut for female quails but on rare occasions they will become physically aggressive towards other competing males. The female scaled quail lays usually around 12 to 14 eggs in a ground-based nest that is often built under brush, cactus or shrubs in order to avoid bad weather and predators. After 22 days the eggs hatch and the chicks need little time for developing. They are running along with their parents within a day’s time and by the time they reach 12 weeks, they are just as big as the adults are. The chicks are capable of reproducing during their first year that is why their fast growth and reproduction rate help sustaining the populations.

Raising a scaled quail is a rather difficult thing to do taking into consideration the fact that the bird has a rather nervous disposition and also are known to be very active, nervous and timid birds. In order to raise this bird properly, you will need at least a 20 feet long by 8 feet long pen. Due to the fact that these birds don’t like flying, they try to run from their intruders. Despite being a bird of the desert, the scaled quail relies heavily on water and it nests during the rainy season when the moisture produces vegetation and in some cases when the summers are very hot and dry, these birds will not breed at all.

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