Having a Quail of a Time at the Ol' Waterin' Hole
Mom, Dad and 19 chicks stopping by for a drink
Quail, quail, quail… what do we have in today’s header gif? Why, it’s a Gambel’s Quail pair and their 19 chicks. That’s a lot of babies! I can see why Mom and Dad look so darn proud. I just love those little topknot crests on the parents’ head and the little fluffy tufts on the chicks’.
The source for today’s gif is YouTube channel Desert Critters of Arizona. You can watch the original below, which shows the plumage coloration much more nicely than within the compression limits of a gif.
Gambel’s quail are a small ground-dwelling bird that inhabit brushy desert and canyons in the southwest United States and throughout much of eastern Mexico. Their diet consists primarily of seeds, leaves and berries, although they do enjoy and occassional insect. Interestingly, their diet evolves to mostly vegeterian when they are adults; the chicks eat only insects and worms for the first few days after hatching. The standard brood is a clutch of 5-15 eggs, so 19 is certainly a feat. Chicks are able to leave the nest within a day of hatching and will follow their parents, who will lead them to food sources where they will feed themselves. Independent babies, they are. Gambel’s quail are socially monogamous, but sometimes a female will leave a mate and her brood to take on a new mate, leaving the father to raise the brood on his own. As Gambel’s quail tend to flock and forage in groups, I image the mom moving on is not overly taxing for the original mate, although he does have to explain to his friends that he’s busy caring for his babies and can’t come over to watch the game on television.
The Partridge Family!
I think that is one of the things I'll miss the most when I leave the desert - quail, especially the peeps!