Scaled Quail

Callipepla squamata

Scaled Quail may not look like their Gambel’s and California cousins, but they are closely related. A sign of this close relationship can be seen in the crests on the chicks of Gambel’s Quail. They look much like the crests on adult Scaled Quail. These birds thrive in open grassland habitats with scattered brush and cactus. They range from southeastern Arizona northwest through New Mexico and southern Colorado. We also find them south through west Texas into central Mexico.

Science recognises at least four subspecies of Scaled Quail:

C. s. squamata lives from southern Sonora, and southern Chihuahua, and southern Coahuila south to Jalisco, Guanajuato, and Edo (Mexico).
C. s. pallida lives in southeastern Arizona to western Texas and in Mexico, south to central Sonora and central Chihuahua.
C. s. castanogastris lives in south-central Texas south to eastern Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas.
C. s. hargravei lives from southeastern Colorado and north-central New Mexico east to southwestern Kansas, western Oklahoma, and the northern Texas panhandle.

It is only C. s. pallida that I have met so far. I had hoped to find Scaled Quail in Texas during my 2020 Spring expedition, but they eluded me until I crossed over the border of New Mexico on my way home. It was in Roswell (New Mexico) at Bitter Lake NWR that these birds so generously gave themselves to me and my camera.

18 Photos

Scaled Quail - Callipepla squamata — **Scaled Quail**
*(Callipepla squamata)*

**Description:**
I enjoyed my Monday morning visit to Bitter Lake NWR near Roswell, New Mexico so much, I decided to spend Tuesday morning there as well. I found these Scaled Quail were even more cooperative than they were on Monday.
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**Date Taken:** 2020:05:12 7:35

**Location:**

Bitter Lake NWR
Roswell, New Mexico
United States
3513.95 ft above sea level

**Camera Information:**
NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/6.3, 1/1600

**File Name:** ScaledQuail_D506276-BitterLake-NWR

© 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com

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Pin It — **Scaled Quail**
*(Callipepla squamata)*

**Description:**
I enjoyed my Monday morning visit to Bitter Lake NWR near Roswell, New Mexico so much, I decided to spend Tuesday morning there as well. I found these Scaled Quail were even more cooperative than they were on Monday.
Read More

**Date Taken:** 2020:05:12 7:35

**Location:**

Bitter Lake NWR
Roswell, New Mexico
United States
3513.95 ft above sea level

**Camera Information:**
NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/6.3, 1/1600

**File Name:** ScaledQuail_D506276-BitterLake-NWR

© 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com

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Scaled Quail

Callipepla squamata

I enjoyed my Monday morning visit to Bitter Lake NWR near Roswell, New Mexico so much, I decided to spend Tuesday morning there as well. I found these Scaled Quail were even more cooperative than they were on Monday.

Scaled Quail

Callipepla squamata

Scaled Quail

Callipepla squamata

One species I hoped to meet in Texas was the Scaled Quail, but I wasn’t successful until reaching a few miles east of Roswell, New Mexico, along the Pecos River, at Bitter Lake NWR.

Scaled Quail

Callipepla squamata

One species I hoped to meet in Texas was the Scaled Quail, but I wasn’t successful until reaching a few miles east of Roswell, New Mexico, along the Pecos River, at Bitter Lake NWR.

Scaled Quail

Callipepla squamata

Scaled Quail

Callipepla squamata

Scaled Quail

Callipepla squamata

One species I hoped to meet in Texas was the Scaled Quail, but I wasn’t successful until reaching a few miles east of Roswell, New Mexico, along the Pecos River, at Bitter Lake NWR.

Scaled Quail

Callipepla squamata

One species I hoped to meet in Texas was the Scaled Quail, but I wasn’t successful until reaching a few miles east of Roswell, New Mexico, along the Pecos River, at Bitter Lake NWR.

Scaled Quail

Callipepla squamata

Scaled Quail

Callipepla squamata

Scaled Quail

Callipepla squamata

Scaled Quail

Callipepla squamata

I sat quietly near the feeder at the visitor center until the neighborhood quail gained confidence to come in. I first visited Bitterlake NWR outside of Roswell New Mexico in April 2020. This visit was a winter sampling of the reserve’s wildlife.