California Quail
(Callipepla californica)

Overview

Summary

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Native to Oregon and California, the California Quail is an introduced species in Canada. The species is abundant in both the British Columbia interior, as well as southeastern Vancouver Island. Breeding Bird Survey results indicate the population has shown a large increase since the early 1970s. National population goals have not been established for this or other introduced species.

Designations

Population status

Population estimate

Distribution maps

• BirdLife International / NatureServe
• North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS): Relative Abundance and Breeding Distribution (1970-2016)
• British Columbia Breeding Bird Atlas (2008-2017): Breeding Evidence

Migration strategy, occurrence

Responsibility for conservation

Conservation and management

The California Quail was introduced to British Columbia several times between 1860 and 1912 (Campbell et al. 1990). Wet springs reduce breeding success (Calkins et al. 2014) and cold, snowy winters can have a significant negative impact on local populations (Cannings et al. 1987). There are no conservation concerns for this introduced species.

Bird conservation region strategies

Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:

• conservation concerns (i.e., species vulnerable due to population size, distribution, population trend, abundance, or threats)
• stewardship responsibilities (i.e., species that typify the regional avifauna or have a large proportion of their range or population in the sub-region)
• management concerns (i.e., species that require ongoing management because of their socio-economic importance as game species, or because of their impacts on other species or habitats)
• other concerns (i.e., species deemed a priority by regional experts for other reasons than those listed above or because they are listed as species at risk or concern at the provincial level)

Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.

References

• Calkins, J.D., J. Gee, J.C. Hagelin, and D.F. Lott. 2014. California Quail (Callipepla californica), version 2.0. In: The Birds of North America (P.G. Rodewald, ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York, USA. Calkins, J.D., J. Gee, J.C. Hagelin, and D.F. Lott. 2014. California Quail (Callipepla californica), version 2.0. In: The Birds of North America (P.G. Rodewald, ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York, USA. (Link)
• Campbell, R.W., N.K. Dawe, I. McTaggart-Cowan, J.M. Cooper, G.W. Kaiser, and M.C.E. McNall. 1990. The Birds of British Columbia, Nonpasserines: Diurnal Birds of Prey Through Woodpeckers. Vol. 2. Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, B.C..
• Cannings, R.A., R.J. Cannings, and S.G. Cannings. 1987. Birds of the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia. Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, BC. 420 pp.