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Species authority page

Scaled quail

Callipepla squamata · Quail · Upland game birds

Scaled quail (Callipepla squamata): 10-12 in; blue-gray quail with a fluffy white crest (hence 'cottontop'). Dark edges on gray body feathers create a scaled look. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and dateOpen the scaled quail map

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

Scaled quail perched on a log
Adobe Stock · Standard License (asset 472865493)
Scientific name
Callipepla squamata
Family
Odontophoridae
Range
Permanent resident of the arid southwestern United States: the southern Plains, southern Rockies, Southwest and Texas.
Biology

How to identify it

10-12 in; blue-gray quail with a fluffy white crest (hence 'cottontop'). [1]

Dark edges on gray body feathers create a scaled look. [1]

Sexes very similar; female may have a shorter crest. [1]

Call a low nasal 'pe-cos'. [1]

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 Scaled quail from colour alone. Compare structure, size, range and the listed similar species before making a field decision.[1]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Flat open country or rolling hills with grasses, annual weeds and scattered shrubs; also grassland grading into desert, juniper slopes and dry brush. [1]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Coveys travel on foot and tend to run rather than fly when disturbed. [1]

Males call from fence posts or rocks in spring; coveys roost on the ground in dense low growth at night. [1]

Eats weed and woody-plant seeds (snakeweed, Russian thistle, mesquite), green leaves and berries, and more insects than most quail. [1]

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

Permanent resident of the arid southwestern United States: the southern Plains, southern Rockies, Southwest and Texas.

Biology

Sources

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

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

    National Audubon Society