Native Quail

December 15, 2022

Question: I live near a park that is frequented by quail, and I love watching them on my morning walks. What plants can I put in my own yard to encourage quail to visit my property?

Answer: Quail certainly are charismatic birds - we understand why you’d want to see them near your home. California is home to three species of quail: mountain, California and Gambel’s quail. To encourage quail to visit your property, we suggest planting brush species that provide cover and perches, and forb species that provide food. For mountain quail, this would include shrubs like manzanita and buckbrush, and native oak trees. California quail also gravitate toward brittlebush, deerweed, redberry and Pacific blackberry. Gambel’s quail have evolved with the dry dusty desert areas. They like acacia, brittlebush, mesquite, cacti and yucca. All three species of quail prefer seeds in the pea family: lotus, lupine and clover. Filaree and chickweed are other good forb options. Oak trees are a good option because they can provide perches for birds and California quail will eat the oak galls. Finally, consider the species of trees and shrubs that you see quail use on your walks in natural areas. Take time to observe how quail use native vegetation for food and shelter in those areas, and then simulate that in your own yard.

I learned 2 new words from this answer: “forb” and “gall”.

As part of my daily entertainment I feed a covey of quail then make their home in my tree size bottle brush. If around and they see me on the deck they walk a ways toward me, not to close but nearing me. A container of mixed seed, mostly sunflower is scattered and when I retreat inside here they come running to scarf up seed. The jays, sometimes a dozen drop out of the trees but the quail force them to the edge of the seed circle by force of numbers. Then a couple acorn wood peckers swoop in, and scare jays and quail off for a moment. Woodpeckers can't gobble like quail but pick up a few seeds and fly off to a tree to deposit them then return. Doesn't take long and food is gone and quail strut off to cover. A few sparrows scrounge for leftovers. I have bird bias. Like the quail, do not care for the jays and wish the woodpeckers would migrate to Canada. Drilling into my wood siding is more than irritating to me. My feathered freeloader friends the quail are.

I’m no fan of jays, as the build nests in weird places then squawk and dive bomb whenever we are nearby. I like the woodpeckers, though. Our trees are all filled with holes and acorns, but they leave our wood siding alone.

My wife asked for a bird feeder for X-Mas, so I obliged.  Thankfully, I hung it day of, becasuse weather has been kinda snotty since.  Even with the rain and wind, I am amazed at how quickly it attracted the finches and titmouses. 

Kinda funny, in my youth I never imagined I would give two hoots about birds in my yard, but as an adult, my wife and I are finding it kinda fun to watch them make a mess of our patio. 

Ditto on jays, and they build those darn nests quick!    Don't have quite the variety that Charles has, but I enjoy feeding the birds in my yard.  The funniest thing to me is watching them toss away seeds they dont like for whatever reason.  That however has attracted rodents as well, so had to start dealing with them.  They can be pretty willy, but you can figure out their tricks with a game cam   

I would like to rephrase the question as "What are the best habitats to hunt quail"