I have not seen a California Quail since moving back into western Montana, and I decided to take a break and find a few of the little buggers. And boy, did I find a whole mess of California Quail. I even managed a couple of images.
California Quail is Montana’s introduced species problem. They have had an apparently self-sustaining population in the Bitterroot Valley for more than 10 years, however, they are not on the official Montana checklist. In my opinion, if Ring-necked Pheasant, Gray Partridge, and Chukar are on the checklist than California Quail deserves to be countable. Oh well, they are gorgeous in any case.
Radd: As I summarized in my post(s) to the MOB list serve, there actually is not strong evidence that the population has been self-sustaining for 10 years. They have shown up in the CBC data for that long, but only in substantial numbers since 2007, the year following our last very snowy winter. And releases apparently were being done through at least 2002, if indeed they do not continue today, as it is still legal to release them (there is a proposal to change this). The other introduced species you mention have all been well established for many, many decades. And Chukars are only considered well established in the Pryors, with those being seen elsewhere coming from continued releases. I would love to see a UM student take on a study to delineate the range, nesting success, overwinter survival, and history of quail releases in the Bitterroot. Such information would go a long way toward deciding whether the species is likely here to stay. I suspect it is, and that it will eventually be added to the official state list. In the meantime, people can enjoy them, report them, and count them as they see fit.
I believe that they will be countable soon as well, but you are absolutely right in saying that we should just enjoy them as they are quite delightful
My back yard seems to be an attraction for California quail. I have quite a bit of willow shrub they nest in. Have had flocks for
4 years now – just had 14 of them on my deck, which seems to be a
morning ritual for them. I love it when they have babies and watch
them “float” quickly through the grass. What a delight.
My Husband Bob, and I first noticed Quail in our neighborhood (between Hamilton and Victor) roughly three years ago. They seem to be thriving here much to our delight. We had no idea that the Bitterroot was their favorite Montana home.