Bird of the Week 8/10-8/14

Hi everyone,

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This week’s bird is the: Mountain Quail

1. John Muir called this bird “the very handsomest and most interesting” – a great celebrity endorsement.

2. Despite this early plug, very little research has been done on this species. Part of that may have to do with the species range (up high in remote mountains) or because of how shy the species tends to be.

3. This bird can be found from Washington State to Baja California, but its range is fragmented. Because the bird does well in high-altitude environments, many populations are isolated in ecologically unique areas.

4. These birds like high altitude environments, but they can’t live in areas with dense snow. So each year these birds have to move seasonally along an elevational gradient – referred to as altitudinal migration, unlike the north-south migration we normally think of.

5. Most scientists think that to make these journeys the birds walk, rather than fly. So what are those wings for anyway??

Have a wonderful week!