Many newcomers flocked to the Billings area during and following the pandemic, including some California quail.
Billings Gazette photographer Larry Mayer recently captured shots of a covey of the birds near his Acton-area ranch as they roamed the grasslands looking for food.
Matt Ladd, wildlife manager for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks in Billings, speculated the nonnative quail may be escapees from a shooting preserve.
"People out hunting can harvest them any time of the year," he added, since quail aren't recognized by FWP as a game bird.
California quail are native, as their name implies, to California. Some were transplanted as game birds to parts of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Baja. They’ve also been introduced in Hawaii, Europe and New Zealand.
Larry Berrin, executive director of Montana Audubon, called the Billings-area sighting odd.
"California quail were introduced in areas in northern Wyoming (way south of Billings) many years ago and have spread throughout the valley in Wyoming, but I've not heard of them in Eastern Montana," he wrote in an email.
Since around 2001 there has also been a small but growing population in Montana’s Bitterroot Valley. That year, the annual state bird count first recorded 17 of the species in the Bitterroot.
Sam Lawry, the executive director of the Teller Wildlife Refuge in the Bitterroot Valley, wrote in 2016 the birds were first seen near Corvallis in 2006. He speculated the birds arrived in the area by escaping or being released from hobby farms. Audubon Christmas Bird Counts found the animals increased from 74 in 2006 to 400 by 2016.
Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | Montana Untamed
In last year’s Christmas Bird Counts near Stevensville, 757 quail were spotted with another 227 seen in the Hamilton-area. The website eBird reveals sightings of California quail near Bozeman and south of Havre, and in Wyoming near Cody and Lovell.
"There are no eBird records of California quail in the Billings area, but generally the birding community does not get super excited when nonnative upland game birds are reported at a new location because they've almost certainly been released there, and are unlikely to form – or be a part of – a viable population," said Bo Crees, avian specialist for Montana Audubon.
According to the Cornell Labs’ All About Birds website, it is the male of the species that has the black topknot or plume atop its head, made up of six overlapping feathers.
The small, round birds have gray breast feathers with scaled white and black bellies. The male also has a white stripe around the base of its neck, extending up to the sides of its eyes and a separate stripe across the top of its head like a headband. For comparison, they are somewhat smaller than Hungarian partridge, also known as gray partridge.
California quail mainly dine on seeds and leaves from a variety of plants, according to the National Audubon Society. They will also eat acorns, berries, flowers, bulbs and insects.
Huns, chukar, wild turkeys and ring-necked pheasant are all nonnative game bird species planted in Montana by Fish, Wildlife & Parks to provide hunting opportunity. The state, however, does not recognize California quail as a game bird so no regulation for their take exists.
Some other cool facts about California quail include:
California quail nests, which are usually on the ground, can contain as many as 28 eggs, dull white to pale buff in color. These large clutches may be the result of females laying eggs in nests other than their own, a behavior known as "egg-dumping." The eggs hatch in about 18 to 23 days. In about 10 days the young can fly short distances. In years with good food supplies, they can raise two broods.
Several California quail broods may mix after hatching, and all the parents care for the young. Adults that raise young this way tend to live longer than adults that do not. Males are often seen perched above the covey to serve as a lookout for predators. A quick “pit-pit” is the alarm call. Their song has been described as sounding like Chi-ca-go.
As an adaptation to living in arid environments, California quail can get by without water for long periods, acquiring needed moisture from insects and succulent vegetation. During periods of sustained heat they must find drinking water to survive.
Adaptable to a variety of habitats, the birds are found on the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge along the Bitterroot River, but are also at home in semi-desert areas populated by juniper and sage. The birds avoid mountains.
During breeding season, males call loudly to advertise territory. In courtship, the male will droop its wings and spread its tail to attract attention as it bobs its head. He may rush at the female.
951.292.9777
Service Areas
