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Estimated Home Ranges Varied From 3 to 100 Hectares Among Female Gambel’s Quail in Arizona

Female and male Gambel's Quail (Callipepla gambelii) standing side by side in Arizona
Research · Ecology

A two-season field study of Gambel’s quail (Callipepla gambelii) near Oracle Junction in southeastern Arizona, USA documented large differences in space use and several apparent predation deaths among tracked birds. The work was intended to improve knowledge of movement, survival and habitat use in a drought-sensitive desert system.

Researchers captured quail from February to July 2024 and again from February to 15 May 2025. Across the study they fitted 33 females with backpack GPS transmitters to follow their movements and help locate nests.

Home-range size varied strongly among individuals

For birds with enough GPS data to estimate home ranges, estimates ranged from 3 to 100 hectares in 2024, with an average of about 25 hectares. In 2025 they ranged from 7 to 57 hectares, with an average of about 29 hectares. The researchers also documented eight mortalities among tracked birds that appeared to have resulted from predation — four in 2024 and four before 15 May 2025.

Three of four located nests were predated

The detailed results describe three nests located in 2024: two were predated and one was abandoned. In 2025 the researchers identified one additional nesting female; both the female and the nest were predated. Taken together, the detailed results therefore report predation at three of the four located nests, while one was abandoned. The report’s abstract summarizes all four nests as predated, so the detailed results provide the more specific breakdown used here.

Vegetation measurements from the three 2024 nests and the limited brood-site data did not reveal evidence that the measured vegetation features differed from available comparison sites. With only four located nests across the study and very few brood locations, the authors caution that the data are too sparse for strong conclusions about nest-site or brood-habitat selection.

Sources and image credit

  1. Rickert, A. C., Harding, L. E., Alston, J. M., & Bauder, J. M. (2026). Gambel’s quail (Callipepla gambelii) nest site selection and habitat use in Oracle Junction, Arizona (Cooperator Science Series FWS/CSS-177-2026). U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. https://doi.org/10.3996/css38263091Primary federal research report published 11 February 2026. Thirty-three female Gambel’s quail received GPS backpack transmitters. Home-range estimates varied widely, with means of about 25 ha in 2024 and 29 ha in 2025, and eight tracked birds died after apparent predation. The detailed results report three of four located nests as predated and one as abandoned. The authors stress that the small number of nests and brood sites limits habitat-selection inference.

Image: Henry / Wikimedia Commons — female and male Gambel’s Quail (Callipepla gambelii) standing side by side in Carefree, Arizona, USA, photographed 17 July 2021. Representative Arizona species photograph, not birds from the Oracle Junction GPS study. · CC BY 2.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ · Source

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