Description Gambel's quail are pear-shaped birds with short legs and roundish wings. Both sexes are gray above and buff below, with white-streaked russet sides.
Females have a less prominent plume and lack black coloration and red head cap.
The birds have a 14-inch wing span and average weight of six ounces. The species' range is focused in the Sonoran desert of Arizona and Mexico, but it extends into southern New Mexico, up and down the Rio Grande, up the Colorado River drainage into Utah's canyon country, and west to California and southern Nevada. Food and Water Gambel's quail eat seeds of forbs, grasses, shrubs, trees and cacti as well as herbaceous material, fruits and berries. They are ground feeders, generally seeking food in the morning and afternoon. They obtain water from food material, but they may also require some free water.