Scaled Quail
Callipepla squamata
Scaled Quail may not look like their Gambel’s and California cousins, but they are closely related. The crests on chicks of Gambel’s Quail look much like the crests on adult Scaled Quail. These birds thrive in open grassland habitats with scattered brush and cactus and range from southeastern Arizona northwest through New Mexico and southern Colorado, and south through west Texas into central Mexico.
Science recognises at least four subspecies of Scaled Quail, but it is C. s. pallida found across Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, Northern Texas and the states of Sonora and Chihuahua (Mexico) that I’ve met so far.
I’d hoped to find Scaled Quail in Texas during my 2020 Spring expedition, but they eluded me until I crossed over the border of New Mexico on my way home. It was in Roswell (New Mexico) at Bitter Lake NWR that these birds gave themselves to me and my camera.

Scaled Quail(Callipepla squamata) |
Description: I enjoyed my Monday morning visit to Bitter Lake NWR near Roswell, New Mexico so much, I decided to spend Tuesday morning there as well. I found these Scaled Quail were even more cooperative than they were on Monday. |
Date Taken: 2020:05:12 7:35 |
Location:
Bitter Lake NWR |
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/6.3, 1/1600 |
File Name: ScaledQuail_D506276-BitterLake-NWR |
© 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Scaled Quail(Callipepla squamata) |
Description: I enjoyed my Monday morning visit to Bitter Lake NWR near Roswell, New Mexico so much, I decided to spend Tuesday morning there as well. I found these Scaled Quail were even more cooperative than they were on Monday. |
Date Taken: 2020:05:12 7:50 |
Location:
Bitter Lake NWR |
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/6.3, 1/3200 |
File Name: ScaledQuail_D506472-BitterLake-NWR |
© 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Scaled Quail(Callipepla squamata) |
Description: One species I hoped to meet in Texas was the Scaled Quail, but I wasn’t successful until reaching a few miles east of Roswell, New Mexico, along the Pecos River, at Bitter Lake NWR. |
Date Taken: 2020:05:11 10:33 |
Location:
Bitter Lake NWR |
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/6.3, 1/2000 |
File Name: ScaledQuail_D506093-BitterLake-NWR |
© 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Scaled Quail(Callipepla squamata) |
Description: One species I hoped to meet in Texas was the Scaled Quail, but I wasn’t successful until reaching a few miles east of Roswell, New Mexico, along the Pecos River, at Bitter Lake NWR. |
Date Taken: 2020:05:11 10:32 |
Location:
Bitter Lake NWR |
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/6.3, 1/2000 |
File Name: ScaledQuail_D506067-BitterLake-NWR |
© 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Scaled Quail(Callipepla squamata) |
Description: I enjoyed my Monday morning visit to Bitter Lake NWR near Roswell, New Mexico so much, I decided to spend Tuesday morning there as well. I found these Scaled Quail were even more cooperative than they were on Monday. |
Date Taken: 2020:05:12 7:35 |
Location:
Bitter Lake NWR |
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/6.3, 1/1600 |
File Name: ScaledQuail_D506259-BitterLake-NWR |
© 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Scaled Quail(Callipepla squamata) |
Description: I enjoyed my Monday morning visit to Bitter Lake NWR near Roswell, New Mexico so much, I decided to spend Tuesday morning there as well. I found these Scaled Quail were even more cooperative than they were on Monday. |
Date Taken: 2020:05:12 7:38 |
Location:
Bitter Lake NWR |
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/6.3, 1/3200 |
File Name: ScaledQuail_D506355-BitterLake-NWR |
© 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Scaled Quail(Callipepla squamata) |
Description: One species I hoped to meet in Texas was the Scaled Quail, but I wasn’t successful until reaching a few miles east of Roswell, New Mexico, along the Pecos River, at Bitter Lake NWR. |
Date Taken: 2020:05:11 10:34 |
Location:
Bitter Lake NWR |
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/6.3, 1/2500 |
File Name: ScaledQuail_D506161-BitterLake-NWR |
© 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Scaled Quail(Callipepla squamata) |
Description: One species I hoped to meet in Texas was the Scaled Quail, but I wasn’t successful until reaching a few miles east of Roswell, New Mexico, along the Pecos River, at Bitter Lake NWR. |
Date Taken: 2020:05:11 10:36 |
Location:
Bitter Lake NWR |
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/6.3, 1/3200 |
File Name: ScaledQuail_D506165-BitterLake-NWR |
© 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Scaled Quail(Callipepla squamata) |
Description: I enjoyed my Monday morning visit to Bitter Lake NWR near Roswell, New Mexico so much, I decided to spend Tuesday morning there as well. I found these Scaled Quail were even more cooperative than they were on Monday. |
Date Taken: 2020:05:12 7:50 |
Location:
Bitter Lake NWR |
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/6.3, 1/3200 |
File Name: ScaledQuail_D506470-BitterLake-NWR |
© 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Scaled Quail(Callipepla squamata) |
Description: I enjoyed my Monday morning visit to Bitter Lake NWR near Roswell, New Mexico so much, I decided to spend Tuesday morning there as well. I found these Scaled Quail were even more cooperative than they were on Monday. |
Date Taken: 2020:05:12 7:50 |
Location:
Bitter Lake NWR |
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/6.3, 1/3200 |
File Name: ScaledQuail_D506475-BitterLake-NWR |
© 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Scaled Quail(Callipepla squamata) |
Description: I enjoyed my Monday morning visit to Bitter Lake NWR near Roswell, New Mexico so much, I decided to spend Tuesday morning there as well. I found these Scaled Quail were even more cooperative than they were on Monday. |
Date Taken: 2020:05:12 7:34 |
Location:
Bitter Lake NWR |
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/6.3, 1/1600 |
File Name: ScaledQuail_D506246-BitterLake-NWR |
© 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Scaled Quail(Callipepla squamata) |
Description: I sat quietly near the feeder at the visitor center until the neighborhood quail gained confidence to come in. I first visited Bitterlake NWR outside of Roswell New Mexico in April 2020. This visit was a winter sampling of the reserve’s wildlife. |
Date Taken: 2020:12:25 12:52 |
Location:
Bitterlake NWR |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/2000 |
File Name: ScaledQuail_D5X3252-Bitterlake-Roswell-NM |
© 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Scaled Quail(Callipepla squamata) |
Description: I sat quietly near the feeder at the visitor center until the neighborhood quail gained confidence to come in. I first visited Bitterlake NWR outside of Roswell New Mexico in April 2020. This visit was a winter sampling of the reserve’s wildlife. |
Date Taken: 2020:12:25 12:44 |
Location:
Bitterlake NWR |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1000 |
File Name: ScaledQuail_D5X2949-Bitterlake-Roswell-NM |
© 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Scaled Quail(Callipepla squamata) |
Description: I sat quietly near the feeder at the visitor center until the neighborhood quail gained confidence to come in. I first visited Bitterlake NWR outside of Roswell New Mexico in April 2020. This visit was a winter sampling of the reserve’s wildlife. |
Date Taken: 2020:12:25 12:41 |
Location:
Bitterlake NWR |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/2000 |
File Name: ScaledQuail_D5X2819-Bitterlake-Roswell-NM |
© 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Scaled Quail(Callipepla squamata) |
Description: I sat quietly near the feeder at the visitor center until the neighborhood quail gained confidence to come in. I first visited Bitterlake NWR outside of Roswell New Mexico in April 2020. This visit was a winter sampling of the reserve’s wildlife. |
Date Taken: 2020:12:25 12:38 |
Location:
Bitterlake NWR |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/800 |
File Name: ScaledQuail_D5X2744-Bitterlake-Roswell-NM |
© 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |

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