Scaled Quail - Cover Requirements

Cover Requirements

Feeding cover: Scaled Quail use grass clumps and shrubs for cover while feeding. In one study they were frequently seen crossing 82 to 165 feet (25–50 m) of bare ground. When disturbed, Scaled Quail hid in snakeweed (Gutierrezia spp.) or in grass clumps. In June and July foraging occurs on open grasslands which are not used at other times.

Loafing cover: Scaled Quail coveys occupy loafing or resting cover after early morning feeding periods. Scaled Quail occupy desert grassland or desert scrub with a minimum of one loafing covert per approximately 70 acres (28 ha). In northwestern Texas, loafing coverts were characterized by: (1) overhead woody cover, (2) lateral screening cover, (3) a central area with bare soil, and (4) one or more paths through the lateral cover. Covert heights ranged from 1.6 to 5.9 feet (0.5–1.8 m) and 2.6 to 6.9 feet (0.8–2.1 m) in diameter. Cholla formed all or part of the overhead cover of 85% of coverts, even though they were dominant at only 12% of the study locations. In areas where Scaled Quail occur without cholla, woody species such as wolfberry (Lycium spp.) and mesquite are important for overhead cover. In Oklahoma pinyon-juniper habitats, Scaled Quail use the shade of tree cholla (Cylindropuntia imbricata) and human-made structures. In Arizona, Scaled Quail occupied wolfberry and mesquite 1.7 to 5 feet (0.5–1.5 m) tall for loafing cover. This overhead cover provides midday shade, but is open at the base to allow easy escape from predators. In Oklahoma, winter home ranges always contained skunkbush sumac, tree cholla, or human-made structures providing overhead cover.

Night-roosting cover: Scaled Quail roosts were observed in yucca (Yucca angustifolia), tree cholla, and true mountain-mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus)-yucca-fragrant sumac (Rhus aromatica) vegetation types. The height of vegetation used for night roosts was less than 1.6 feet (0.5 m).

Nesting cover: In March or April winter coveys spread out into areas with less cover. This use of areas with less cover coincides with a seasonal decrease in the number of raptors in the same area. Scaled Quail nests are constructed under tufts of grasses, and are sheltered by sagebrush (Artemisia spp.), creosotebush (Larrea tridentata), mesquite, catclaw acacia (Acacia greggii), cactus, or yucca; under dead Russian-thistle (Salsola kali), mixed forbs, or soapweed yucca; or sheltered in old machinery or other human-made debris. In Oklahoma, 66% of nests were in one of four situations: (1) dead Russian-thistle, (2) machinery and junk, (3) mixed forbs, and (4) soapweed yucca. In New Mexico, ordination of breeding birds and vegetative microhabitats indicated that Scaled Quail were associated with increased levels of patchiness and increased cover of mesquite and cactus.