Male Mountain Quail (Oreortyx pictus) - WA
It is always a pleasure to see these elusive and beautiful Quail. I ended up seeing 7 of them so it was my lucky day. These birds are not easy to find in WA and are severely declining there. They are declining mostly due to habitat loss due to development, intense agriculture and overgrazing, flooding of riparian areas (through dams) and climate change creating the loss of much needed water sources. Mountain Quails are the largest of any quail in North America and these birds are sadly completely extirpated from BC. This bird is a male in moult hence his lack of head plumes.
Male Mountain Quail (Oreortyx pictus) - WA
It is always a pleasure to see these elusive and beautiful Quail. I ended up seeing 7 of them so it was my lucky day. These birds are not easy to find in WA and are severely declining there. They are declining mostly due to habitat loss due to development, intense agriculture and overgrazing, flooding of riparian areas (through dams) and climate change creating the loss of much needed water sources. Mountain Quails are the largest of any quail in North America and these birds are sadly completely extirpated from BC. This bird is a male in moult hence his lack of head plumes.