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Species authority page

Mountain quail

Oreortyx pictus · Quail · Upland game birds

Mountain quail (Oreortyx pictus): Two long thin head plumes, often combined into one, standing straight up. Blue-gray head and chest with a chestnut face. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and dateOpen the mountain quail map

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Mountain quail perched in a Douglas-fir
Adobe Stock · Standard License (asset 1085937672)
Scientific name
Oreortyx pictus
Family
Odontophoridae
Range
Mountains of the western United States from southern Washington and western Idaho south through the Cascades and Sierra Nevada into Baja California, at about 450–3,000 m. May have disappeared from southwestern British Columbia, where it was possibly introduced.
Biology

How to identify it

Two long thin head plumes, often combined into one, standing straight up. [1][2]

Blue-gray head and chest with a chestnut face. [1][2]

Broad white bars on chestnut sides. [1][2]

Sexes similar; 26–28 cm. [1][2]

Species it is confused with

Check these before deciding what you are looking at. If you are not certain what it is, do not shoot.

Field notes

  • Identification Do not identify Mountain quail from colour alone. Compare structure, size, range and the listed similar species before making a field decision.[1][2]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Dense brush in wooded foothills and mountains, especially pine-oak woodland, coniferous forest and chaparral; uses post-fire or clearcut brush; seldom more than about a mile from water in hot weather. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Coveys keep to dense cover and often sit motionless when approached [1][2]

Males give a loud echoing kyork or woook at long intervals in spring [1][2]

High-elevation birds migrate downslope on foot for winter [1][2]

Scratches in litter and digs for bulbs; eats seeds, acorns, leaves, berries, some insects and fungi [1][2]

Regulatory handoff

Where it is listed for legal take

These authorities list this species for legal take in their own regulations.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Mountains of the western United States from southern Washington and western Idaho south through the Cascades and Sierra Nevada into Baja California, at about 450–3,000 m. May have disappeared from southwestern British Columbia, where it was possibly introduced.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. National Audubon Society · reviewed 2026-09-30

    National Audubon Society

  2. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe