California Quail
California QuailCalifornia QuailCalifornia QuailCalifornia Quail

California Quail

Callipepla californica

Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic

Least ConcernNear ThreatenedVulnerableEndangeredCritically Endangered
Daily sighting probability Insufficient data
at Península Valdés
1 Verified sightings at Península Valdés From 2019 to 2026
1,591 Verified sightings across all 12 parks From 2019 to 2026
🌅 Crepuscular When it's spotted at dawn and dusk

About the California Quail

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, inhabiting western North America. It is the state bird of California.

There are seven recognized subspecies: C. c. californica (Shaw, 1798) – northern Oregon and western Nevada to southern California and Coronado Islands C. c. achrustera (Peters, 1923) – San Lucas California quail – southern Baja California

C. c. brunnescens (Ridgway, 1884) – extreme northern coastal California to southern Santa Cruz County C. c. canfieldae (Van Rossem, 1939) – Owen Valley quail – Owens Valley of east central California C. c. catalinensis (Grinnell, 1906) – Santa Catalina quail – Santa Catalina Island (off southern California)

C. c. orecta (Oberholser, 1932) – Warner Valley quail – Warner Valley in Oregon to extreme northern California C. c. plumbea (Grinnell, 1926) – San Quintin California quail – San Diego County to southern Baja California Their closest relative is Gambel's quail, which has a more southerly distribution and a longer crest at 2.5 in (6.4 cm), a brighter head... Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Warmer areas are where this animal is recorded most often.

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Cabo Pulmo National Park 🇲🇽 Mexico
~40%
2 Bahía de Loreto National Park 🇲🇽 Mexico
~30%
3 Nahuel Huapi National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
~30%
4 El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
~20%
5 Abel Tasman National Park 🇳🇿 New Zealand
~20%
6 Tongariro National Park 🇳🇿 New Zealand
~10%
7 Yosemite National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
8 Arthur's Pass National Park 🇳🇿 New Zealand
<5%
9 Península Valdés 🇦🇷 Argentina
Insufficient data
10 Egmont National Park 🇳🇿 New Zealand
Insufficient data
11 Fiordland National Park 🇳🇿 New Zealand
Insufficient data
12 Joshua Tree National Park 🇺🇸 United States
Insufficient data
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