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Mountain Quail

Mountain Quail

Oreortyx pictus

Range & Recent Observations

Mountain Quailis a year-round resident and doesn't follow a migration flyway. See the Range tab for where it lives.

Last Spotted Near You

View on eBirdWikipedia

About the Mountain Quail

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.

Source: Wikipedia

Classification

Scientific name
Oreortyx pictus
Family
New World Quail
Order
Galliformes

Similar species

Other members of the new world quail family recorded in North America — a useful place to start if you are not certain of your identification.

  • Banded Quail Philortyx fasciatus
  • Bearded Wood-Partridge Dendrortyx barbatus
  • Black-throated Bobwhite Colinus nigrogularis
  • Buffy-crowned Wood-Partridge Dendrortyx leucophrys
  • California Quail Callipepla californica
  • Elegant Quail Callipepla douglasii
  • Gambel's Quail Callipepla gambelii
  • Long-tailed Wood-Partridge Dendrortyx macroura
  • Montezuma Quail Cyrtonyx montezumae
  • Northern Bobwhite Colinus virginianus
  • Ocellated Quail Cyrtonyx ocellatus
  • Scaled Quail Callipepla squamata

Know when the Mountain Quail turns up near you

Add it to your watchlist and draw an alert zone around the places you actually bird. Birdr checks eBird reports and tells you when one is seen inside it.

How rare bird alerts work →

Gear for spotting Mountain Quail

Optics

Best Binoculars for Beginners

You don't need to spend a fortune. These four pairs will get you birding confidently on day one.

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Cameras

Cameras for Bird Photography

From phone adapters to dedicated rigs, here's what actually works for capturing birds in the field.

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Optics

Spotting Scopes for Distance Birding

Essential for shorebirds, raptors, and anything too far for binoculars. Our tested picks.

9 min readRead guide