Guess what I saw in my backyard today??

[USAmma]

A wild Gambel's quail! I have lived in my home for 15 years and we are in the the middle of Phoenix-area suburbia. There is still a bit of free space about a mile away on some canals but mostly it's roads, houses, and freeway. I have seen all kinds of birds but never a quail in my area. And yet there it was. I saw it on my 6 foot high block fence, a nice male with a feather on its head. It walked across my yard and then it saw us looking out and hopped onto the other 6 foot fence and disappeared. I was amazed how easily it hopped up and down. I didn't know they could hop that high up so gracefully. I wonder if it was attracted to my 16 hens in a coop in my yard and had to check it out?

 

[Ntsees]

Wild birds are agile to survive. If it hopped from the ground up to the 6 foot fence, it had the help of its wings.

 

[TwoCrows]

Cool! I have seen Gambels come to clean up the wild bird seed that had fallen on the ground, when we lived down in the deserts here in NM. They are pretty brave little birds! Love the way they all filed out of the bushes single file, top knots all bobbing as they called out. LOL

Up here in the mountains, we have the Montezuma Quail and they will come in the fall to the sound of my Bobs calling for the winter covey. I find them sneaking around in the brush around here sometimes.

Just love those wild quail!!

 

[veggietreeigrl]

Oh cool! I saw a bunch of California Quail at work the other day. I hadn't seen any in a while.