The state bird of California is the California Quail, a rather chubby ground bird with a distinctive bobbly plume and equally distinctive call.
We have large herds of them, and their numbers have only increased as we’ve restored more and more native grasses. It doesn’t hurt that there are several feeding stations scattered about the houseyard, along with nearly a half-dozen more in the north garden. It turns out quail are basically avian farmhands. As they peck and scratch at the ground beneath the stations in search of morsels the songbirds have let fall, they also leave droppings which get mixed in with all that scratching. The result is super-fertilized patches.
I just recently learned this bit of info and now we’re plotting to make our semi-permanent feeding stations more “portable.” Most of the ones on tall shepherd’s hooks are made by Erva. They are super-sturdy and have the added benefit of being somewhat customizable, thanks to sproingy extra arms that can be added. The only downside is they have to be pounded into the ground, so removing them takes a great deal of effort. We’re currently pondering how to modularize things a bit. (This is like a two-day-old idea, so it will be a while before we do it.)
Anyway, the quail have been a great source of joy here. From their nightly rituals, to their photogenic presence in the garden areas–not to mention the yearly arrival of newly-hatched chicks–I have taken hundreds of photos of them over the years and here are a handful. You can see more over images of them and many other wild residents over at stega.org.
