CALIFORNIA VALLEY QUAIL
CALIFORNIA STATE BIRD
Its most distinctive mark is a gracefully curving plume on the top of its head. Its call is made up of three notes that sound something like Ka-Ka-Kao. It nests on the ground and has from 12 to 16 eggs, creamy in color with splotches of brown or old gold. This scene is from the original canvas, painted especially to give true rendition to the Official California State Bird.
Sent by Susan from Morgan Hill in California, USA.
This is from Wikipedia : The California Quail (Callipepla californica, also known as the California Valley Quail or Valley Quail) is a small ground-dwelling bird in the New World quail family. It is the state bird of California.
These birds have a curving crest or plume, made of six feathers, that droops forward: black in males and brown for females; the flanks are brown with white streaks. Males have a dark brown cap and a black face with a brown back, a grey-blue chest and a light brown belly. Females and immature birds are mainly grey-brown with a light-colored belly. Their closest relative is Gambel's Quail which has a more southerly distribution and, a longer crest (2.5 inches), a brighter head and a scalier appearance. The two species separated about 1-2 million years ago, during the Late Pliocene or Early Pleistocene.
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