New World Quails (Odontophoridae)

California Quail (Callipepla californica) - HBW 2, p. 424

French: Colin de Californie German: Schopfwachtel Spanish: Colín de California
Other common names: Valley Quail

Taxonomy: Tetrao californicus Shaw, 1798, Monterey, California, USA.
Often placed in Lophortyx. Sometimes considered conspecific with C. gambelii, with which forms superspecies. Eight subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

californica (Shaw, 1798) - N Oregon and W Nevada, NW USA, S to Los Coronados Is, Baja California, NW Mexico; also (probably introduced) from S British Columbia, SW Canada, SE to Colorado, WC USA.
orecta (Oberholser, 1932) - SE Oregon and extreme NE California, W USA.
brunnescens (Ridgway, 1884) - coastal N California to SC California, W USA; also (probably introduced) Vancouver I, Canada.

See all 8 subspecies

californica (Shaw, 1798) - N Oregon and W Nevada, NW USA, S to Los Coronados Is, Baja California, NW Mexico; also (probably introduced) from S British Columbia, SW Canada, SE to Colorado, WC USA.
orecta (Oberholser, 1932) - SE Oregon and extreme NE California, W USA.
brunnescens (Ridgway, 1884) - coastal N California to SC California, W USA; also (probably introduced) Vancouver I, Canada.
catalinensis (Grinnell, 1906) - Santa Catalina I, off SW California, W USA; also (probably introduced) nearby Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz Is.
canfieldae (van Rossem, 1939) - EC California, W USA.
plumbea (Grinnell, 1926) - S California, W USA, to N Baja California, NW Mexico.
decoloratus (van Rossem, 1946) - C & S Baja California, NW Mexico.
achrustera (Peters, 1923) - extreme S Baja California, W Mexico.