Mountain Quail
| Oreortyx pictus | Order: Galliformes | Family: Odontophoridae (New World Quail) |
Oreortyx pictus
Order: Galliformes
Family: Odontophoridae (New World Quail)
This secretive species is much more often heard than seen. I heard it in Yosemite during my 2013 Conservation Big Year with my friend Eric Bowman, and we got one quick look. I recorded one and think I actually saw one in 2001 when I took the Cornell Lab’s field sound recording workshop in the Sierra Nevadas, but I’ve never had a chance to photograph one yet. It’s considered rare or declining.
It does have a place in Guinness World Records:
Mountain Quail: Longest bird migration on foot. Groups of mountain quail (Oreortyx pictus), native to western North America, often walk up to 1,500 m (5,000 ft) in winter to reach lower, warmer altitudes in the longest bird migration on foot.