Jul
19
Arizona: White-winged Quail
By
A certain significant percentage–perhaps one in 15 or so–of juvenile Gambel’s Quail show clear white patches in the nascent wing. I’ve never been able to trace any of these individuals to see whether they retain this character into their first basic plumage or whether it simply disappears as they attain an adult-like aspect. Anybody out there know?
This chick is one of a brood of (so far) six gorging at our thistle feeder. We have about three families right now in the front yard, and two of them have “white-winged” young.
