Sedona, Arizona: If you step out your front door one morning and it sounds like your front-yard prickly pear is talking to itself, no need to check yourself in. The chattering, muttering and burbling that emanates from beneath desert scrub all over the Southwest can usually be attributed to the Gambel's Quail, one of Arizona's favorite little desert friends. If you step closer to that babbling cactus, several quail will probably scurry out to take cover under the next bush, turning up the chatter and bobbing their absurd little topknots on the way. If it's early summer you'll see the fuzzy cotton-ball babies fumbling along after their parents, and you've hit the adorability jackpot.
Also called Desert quail, Gambel's quail are everywhere in the Arizona deserts under 6,000 feet. Even though they're speedy flyers, they prefer the ground to the air, and will walk, then run, then fly only as a last resort when harassed. These roly-poly little birds can reach speeds up to 22mph on foot. Even when they roost for the night they try to stay no more than a foot or two above the ground. Because of their earth-loving nature, you'll find Gambel's quail where their favorite ground cover is plentiful, including prickly pear, mesquite and acacia plants.
Quail demonstrate a fascinating synergy with the seasons of the desert in the way they reproduce. The quail population can fluctuate wildly from year to year, mostly due to one factor: the amount, and even more importantly the timing of winter rainfall. In ideal breeding conditions, a long season of plentiful winter rains will produce winter annuals that are high in vitamin A, critical for reproductive health in quail. It will also ensure that there's groundcover in the spring and summer for newly-hatched chicks, as well as habitat for the insects they eat.
