Oreortyx pictus

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Cladus: Avemetatarsalia
Cladus: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauriformes
Cladus: Dracohors
Cladus: Dinosauria
Ordo: Saurischia
Cladus: Eusaurischia
Subordo: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Cladus: Averostra
Cladus: Tetanurae
Cladus: Avetheropoda
Cladus: Coelurosauria
Cladus: Tyrannoraptora
Cladus: Maniraptoromorpha
Cladus: Maniraptoriformes
Cladus: Maniraptora
Cladus: Pennaraptora
Cladus: Paraves
Cladus: Eumaniraptora
Cladus: Avialae
Infraclassis: Aves
Cladus: Avebrevicauda
Cladus: Pygostylia
Cladus: Ornithothoraces
Cladus: Ornithuromorpha
Cladus: Carinatae
Parvclassis: Neornithes
Cohors: Neognathae
Cladus: Pangalloanserae
Cladus: Galloanseres
Ordo: Galliformes

Familia: Odontophoridae
Genus: Oreortyx
Species: Oreortyx pictus
Subspecies: O. p. confinis – O. p. eremophilus – O. p. pictus – O. p. plumifer – O. p. russelli
Name

Oreortyx pictus (Douglas, 1829)
Synonymy

Ortyx picta (protonym)

References

Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 16: 143.

Vernacular names
català: Colí muntanyenc
čeština: Křepel horský
Cymraeg: Sofliar mynydd
dansk: Bjergvagtel
Deutsch: Bergwachtel
English: Mountain Quail
Esperanto: Montokoturno
español: Colín serrano
eesti: Mägi-tuttvutt
فارسی: بلدرچین کوهی
suomi: Vuoriviiriäinen
français: Colin des montagnes
עברית: שליו הרים אמריקני
magyar: Hegyi bóbitásfürj
italiano: Quaglia di montagna
日本語: ツノウズラ
Nederlands: Bergkwartel
norsk: Spirvaktel
Diné bizaad: Dziłtah díłdánii
polski: Przepiór ozdobny
português: Colim-serrano
русский: Калифорнийский горный перепел
slovenčina: Prepelka pestrá
svenska: Bergtofsvaktel
中文: 山翎鹑

The mountain quail (Oreortyx pictus) is a small ground-dwelling bird in the New World quail family. This species is the only one in the genus Oreortyx, which is sometimes included in Callipepla. This is not appropriate, however, as the mountain quail's ancestors diverged from other New World quails earlier than the bobwhites, no later than 6 mya.[2]
Description

The bird's average length is 26–28 cm (10–11 in), with a wingspan of 35–40 cm (14–16 in). They have relatively short, rounded wings and long, featherless legs. These birds are easily recognized by their topknots, which are shorter in the female and change color with the seasons and geographic location of particular populations. They have a brown face, gray breast, brown back and primaries, and heavily white barred underside. Females display greater brown coloring on their dorsal side, a paler red on their undersides, and wider white barring on the flank than their male counterparts. Mountain quails lose the multi-color primary coverts on their wings as they age, and by 15 months old will only have solid-colored coverts.
Oreortyx pictus
Subspecies

There are five recognized subspecies:[3]

Image	Subspecies	Distribution
	O. p. pictus – (Douglas, 1829)	nominate, found in the Cascade Range of Washington to coastal mountains of central California
	O. p. plumifer – (Gould, 1837)	Southern Washington to western Nevada and central California
	O. p. russelli – AH Miller, 1946: pallid mountain quail	Little San Bernardino Mountains of southern California
	O. p. eremophilus – van Rossem, 1937: desert mountain quail	Sierra Nevada of southern California to northern Baja, and extreme southwestern Nevada
	O. p. confinis – Anthony, 1889: southern mountain quail	mountains of northern Baja California

Distribution and habitat

It inhabits mountainous chaparral west of the Rocky Mountains, from British Columbia in Canada, and some areas of Washington state in the United States, to Baja Peninsula, Mexico. It can be found up to 3,000 m (9,800 ft) above sea level. It is a non-migratory species; however some populations may be altitudinal migrants in some mountain ranges. Mountain quails also inhabit lava reefs in the Modoc Plateau of California, in addition to the chaparral and wooded areas of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and Coast Range.
Behavior

Mountain quail primarily move about by walking, and can move surprisingly quickly through brush and undergrowth. In the late summer, fall and winter, the adults and immature young congregate into family groups of up to 20 birds. The birds' habits can be secretive. Any flight is usually short and explosive, with many rapid wingbeats followed by a slow glide to the ground.
Feeding

Its diet consists primarily of plant matter and seeds. The chicks are decidedly more insectivorous than adults, gradually consuming more plant matter as they mature.
Breeding
Egg of Oreortyx pictus – MHNT

Breeding among mountain quail is monogamous and rarely gregarious. The female typically lays 9–10 eggs in a simple scrape concealed in vegetation, often at the base of a tree or shrub, usually close to water. Incubation lasts from 21 to 25 days, usually performed by the female and rarely by the male. However, preliminary research by the University of Nevada suggests that males have successfully incubated chicks on their own, which creates the possibility of a pair of mountain quails raising two broods in one breeding season.[4] The chicks are precocial, leaving the nest with their parents within hours of hatching.
Status and conservation

It is not considered threatened by the IUCN, being plentiful across a wide range. However, its success is tied to sufficient habitat, which expands in cooler and more arid climate. Subfossil remains have been found, for example at Rocky Arroyo in the Guadalupe Mountains and Shelter Cave, New Mexico, where sufficient habitat no longer exists. The bones date found from the end of the last ice age to not much more than 8000 BC.[5] A petition to list the mountain quail as endangered or threatened was denied by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2003. However, outside of California, the birds' habitat has been decreasing in Idaho, Nevada, and eastern Oregon and Washington because of drought and human activity, including agriculture and development.
References

BirdLife International (2021). "Oreortyx pictus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021: e.T22679591A139204160. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T22679591A139204160.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
Zink, Robert M.; Blackwell, Rachelle C. (1998). "Molecular systematics of the Scaled Quail complex (genus Callipepla)". Auk. 115 (2): 394–403. doi:10.2307/4089198. JSTOR 4089198.
Gill, F.; Donsker, D., eds. (2014). "IOC World Bird List" (v 4.4 ed.). doi:10.14344/IOC.ML.4.4. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
Delehanty, David (October 23, 1994). "Incubation and Brood Rearing by a Wild Mountain Quail" (PDF). sora.unm.edu. Retrieved June 29, 2023.

Howard, H.; Miller, A.H. (1933). "Bird remains from cave deposits in New Mexico". Condor. 35 (1): 15–18. doi:10.2307/1363460. JSTOR 1363460.

[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Carroll, John P. (1994). "4. Mountain Quail". In del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew; Sargatal, Jordi (eds.). Handbook of Birds of the World. Vol. 2: New World Vultures to Guineafowl. Barcelona, ES: Lynx Edicions. p 423, plate 39. ISBN 84-87334-15-6. see article Handbook of Birds of the World

Field Guide to the Birds of North America. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society. 2002. ISBN 0-7922-6877-6.

Sibley, David Allen (2000). The Sibley Guide to Birds. New York, NY: Knopf. ISBN 0-679-45122-6.