Males are slightly heavier. It has a distinctive black and white pattern on its face and its belly has black and brown feather tips which makes the California Quail look like it has a scaled under part. Its overall color is blue-grey and brown. It has a chestnut colored crown with streaking on its flanks. The California Quail has a black bill and grey legs.
Sexes are dimorphic.
The males have a black throat and the females have more of a greyish colored throat with black streaks. The Callifornia Quail can be identified with its prominent teardrop-shaped plume or a double plume coming off its forehead. The primary daily diet of the California Quail consists of seeds from broad-leafed plants, such as Lupinus, Lotus, Erodium, Trifolium, Medicago, and Amsinckia . When the winter days start to lengthen, the pituitary glands in the California Quail start to release gonadotropic hormones. The blood stream then carries these hormones to the gonads, which initiates the growth and development of the ovaries and the testes.