WatchList Species Account for Mountain Quail (Oreortyx pictus)

Qualifies for the list as a Rare Yellow List Species

Photo: © Dave Appleton, May 2005

This secretive bird, the largest quail north of Mexico, inhabits dense cover in the wooded foothills and thick shrub habitats in the mountain ranges of western North America – primarily the Sierra Nevada, Cascade, and Coast Ranges, but with disjunct populations in the Intermountain West and Baja California. Its elevational range is 700 to over 3,000 meters. Because of numerous attempted introductions many years ago, it may be that current birds north of the Columbia River are not native.

Five subspecies have been defined, but changes in traits seem clinal and many or all of these taxonomic distinctions may be artificial. It is notable among quail for its extensive elevational migrations and its almost exclusive reliance on plant material for food. It is poorly monitored, but appears to have significantly declined and suffered range reductions in the eastern, Intermountain West, portion of its range, but seems to be doing reasonably well in the western mountains where the bulk of these birds live.

Urbanization in the mountains of Southern California has destroyed habitat for the quail there, and increased development in the Sierra Nevada has decreased winter habitat for the species. Livestock watering tanks in arid regions are a benefit to the birds, but heavy livestock grazing can reduce the amount of food available to the birds. Translocating birds to areas within their historic range has been attempted in some states, but the results of such actions is not yet known. Hunting is banned in areas where the bird is in decline.