California Valley quail male or female

[Chip76]

But one of the girls ardently rolled in the water and literally gave herself a mud bath! She made sure to get it all over the top of her head, too. She looked a sodden mess with her feathers all wet and clumpy, but somehow she was all cleaned up and back to normal the next day.

That's so adorable! I'm so glad she was able to get herself cleaned up!

 

[Richterfamily]

It's almost 5 weeks old now! Do you have a new picture? Excited to find out what you have!

Oh wow I stepped away from this thread for a little while too long.
So I attached a few pictures. To be honest I go back and forth every few days if it’s a male or female. My 7 year old and I were thinking female tonight. What does everyone think?

Thank you everyone for your responses.

 

[maadroj]

It might still be a little too early to tell. I'm guessing female right now, but it's easier to be confident with the males once they start developing their black "beards."

This is a female in front an a male poking his head out.

Female

Your bird is a cutie! And looks very sweet. What's its name?

 

[007Sean]

Females will be much duller in color than males and their 'top knot' not as defined as a male or as large as a males top knot.

 

[Chip76]

Wow! She's adorable!
She looks more female to me, unless that is black under her eyes. I think there would be a white stripe and more black if it was a male.

 

[Richterfamily]

So sounds like people are leaning towards a female.
The quail’s name is rocket, my 7 and 3 year old boys named her.

One more thing to add, today rocket made a longer noise than we had heard before from her. She almost stood tall when making the sound. Is that a crow? Do both male and female valley quail make a crow type of sound?

Thanks for the comments.

 

[maadroj]

The females make the "Chi-ca-go" call, too.

 

[Richterfamily]

So it’s a male. Thought I’d let people know.

 

[Chip76]

He's beautiful!! I guess that was black coming in under his eyes.

He looks very similar to my gambel quail boys.



Thanks for the update!!

 

[maadroj]

What's Rocket like now that he's a little older? Does he live inside?