California Quail
by Ram Vasudev
Title
California Quail
Artist
Ram Vasudev
Medium
Photograph - Digital Photography With Textures
Description
Male California Quale (Callipepla californica) in habitat, San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles County, California. I've given the original image a digital oil painting treatment and added a subtle texture for an oil painting on canvas look.
The California quail, also known as the California valley quail or valley quail, is a small ground-dwelling bird and is California's state bird. It has a curving crest or plume, made of six feathers, that droops forward: black in males and brown for females; the flanks are brown with white streaks. Males have a dark brown cap as in this photo and a black face with a brown back, a grey-blue chest and a light brown belly. Females and immature birds are mainly grey-brown with a light-colored belly. Their closest relative is Gambel's Quail which has a more southerly distribution and, a longer (2.5 in) crest, a brighter head and a scalier appearance. The two species separated about 1-2 million years ago, during the Late Pilocene Epoch or Early Pleistocene Epoch.
California Quail's breeding habitat is shrubby areas and open woodlands in western North America, as in this photo. It is a highly sociable bird that often gathers in small flocks known as "coveys". One of their daily communal activities is a dust bath. A group of quail will select an area where the ground has been newly turned or is soft, and using their underbellies, will burrow downward into the soil some one to two inches. They then wriggle about in the indentations they have created, flapping their wings and ruffling their feathers, causing dust to rise in the air. These birds forage on the ground, often scratching at the soil. Their diet consists mainly of seeds and leaves, but they also eat some berries and insects. If startled, these birds explode into short rapid flight, called "flushing". Given a choice, they will normally escape on foot.
Info from wikipedia
In addition to prints available here through FAA, the image is also available for rights-managed licensing.
Keywords: California, Quail, Callipepla, californica, habitat, San Gabriel, Mountains, Los Angeles County, Angeles Crest, Highway, Chileo Visitor Center, wildbird, wild, bird, birding, birdwatching, watching, birder, birdwatch, wildlife, nature, mountain, hunting, hunt, hunter, game, gamebird, ground, dweller, dwelling, avian, plumage, wing, feather, ornithology, closeup, adult, beak, feathers, small game, plume, natural, state bird, wilderness, Ram, Vasudev, photography
Copyright © Ram Vasudev. All rights reserved
Uploaded
December 13th, 2014
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