Question for owning quail in california

So I emailed the department of fish and game for california and I don't think they quite understand what I'm saying but this is the response I got for my question on coturnix quail
"Quail are game birds in California, and are considered wildlife. For this reason quail cannot be kept as personal pets in California. There is no license or permit that would allow one to do so. The closest thing would be a game breeder’s license for commercial game breeder operations.

 

Illegally keeping wildlife as personal pets in California is a wildlife violation punishable by fines and the loss of hunting and fishing privileges."


Is this right?

That can't be right I live in la county and know a shop that sells quails as pets, along with other birds like ducks and chickens. I think the shop is close to bellflower, ca. I'm not sure what the breed is though.

I don't thinks they understand either. If you want coturnix they are not wildlife and not native. Check this thread and see if you can find what you need.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/429252/game-bird-permit-licencsure-information

Ok I was curious and found this.

https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Licensing/Game-Breeder

According to the forms here -

"This permit is only for species of birds and mammals
which are game in California. Game is defined in Fish
and Game Code (FGC) Sections 3500 and 3950. The
FGC is available at
www.leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.html.
Donot list species which are not California game birds
or mammals."

And their list of game birds found here is -

"§3500. Resident and Migratory Game Birds Enumerated;
“Game Birds”
(a) Resident game birds are as follows:
(1) Doves of the genus Streptopelia, including, but not
limited to, spotted doves, ringed turtledoves, and Eur-
asian collared-doves.
(2) California quail and varieties thereof.
(3) Gambel’s or desert quail.
(4) Mountain quail and varieties thereof.
(5) Sooty or blue grouse and varieties thereof.
(6) Ruffed grouse.
(7) Sage hens or sage grouse.
(8) Hungarian partridges.
(9) Red-legged partridges including the chukar and other
varieties.
(10) Ring-necked pheasants and varieties thereof.
(11) Wild turkeys of the order Galliformes.
(b) Migratory game birds are as follows:
(1) Ducks and geese.
(2) Coots and gallinules.
(3) Jacksnipe.
(4) Western mourning doves.
(5) White-winged doves.
(6) Band-tailed pigeons.
(c) References in this code to “game birds” means both
resident game
birds and migratory game birds."

Nowhere was it mentioned that you need a permit or license for coturnix in CA.

You guys are awesome thank you for the information and response

You have to call the appropriate person at the fish and game office, you'll end up talking to her anyway. Just ask her to send you the forms you need, you may find you don't need one. It's an older lady, her name escapes me right now. Everyone else there doesn't know their *** from a hole in the ground. For coturnix you dont' need a lic at all as long as you aren't washing their feces down a city drain. For every other type of gamebird you only need a license if you plan to sell them or are keeping them for more than 30 days. It's like $75 for the license if I remember correctly. A state official will come look at your cages at some point too.

Something kept bothering me and I couldn't figure it out. Now I know what it is. Thanks for the indirect reminder LOL. I got to renew mines pretty soon. It's $20.86 for the license. If want to keep more than 175 ringneck pheasants, then it'll be $103.77. Sill's post pretty much sums it up.