Ground Birds - VI

On to Quails. First up, the Gambel's Quail. We have 50 to 100 around The Azure Gate all the time. Like the Roadrunner, you seldom see them fly. It is only if they can't run fast enough to get out of the way of a car or if they want to be on a tree branch of piece of cactus that they leave the ground. Gambel's Quail typically lay 10 - 15 eggs (on the ground) usually in the April, May, June timeframe. We often see the little ones starting in early May. I realized that in preparing for this blog I don't have any good "chick" photos, so I'll have to make it a point to get some this year. It is not easy to get photos of the chicks. Looking through a window you see them in a line with one parent in the front and one in the back, which is a photographic nightmare to capture. As soon as you open the door or approach they scatter and run away. The parents are very protective of their young. Parents will chase other adult quail away from their chicks if the adults get too close. Yet, adult quail we "team up" to chase Roadrunners or snakes away from their chicks. The first two photos today are the male, the last photo a female (all three taken here at The Azure Gate).