What Kind of Quail is This?

It looks like a cross between a blue and a bob to me. My guess is that it was a blue rooster and a hen bobwhite.

Mearns hen

scaled quail

Sure looks like some kind of a blue quail hybrid. I have seen, on several occasions what looked to me like a blue quail/bobwhite cross where both species were found, namely out west of Hebbronville. This bird doesn't quite look like they did, but what do I know?
Those birds were moving with bobwhite coveys, and exhibited a dusky blue hue on their breast.

Bill Oxner & Pointer are correct. It's a blob. These photos were taken by a friend of mine that has a ranch in Starr County. I sent the photos to Dr. Fidel Hernandez with the CKWRI Quail Program and he confirmed the hybridization.

Below is Dr. Hernandez's answer to the question.

"Yes, hybridization between blues and bobs has been reported in the literature. Their occurrence is rare but does seems to happen. Rates of occurrence of “blobs” range from 1-70 blobs for every 1,000 bobwhites sampled"

Cool looking bird.

Okay, I'll help keep Charles' aka Buster's thread going. Does anyone know why I guessed that it was a blue rooster, and a bob hen?

C'mon, tell us Mr. Bill. Enquiring minds gotta know!

It is a scaled quail.



LINK

Logic tells me that it was a blue rooster, and a bobwhite hen. It's not natural, so it had to be rape. I don't think a bobwhite rooster could run down and catch a blue hen.

Great pics!

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Scaled_Quail/id

Where I grew up we had more these quail than any other. They are Scaled Quail.

Very Cool looking birds. We have harvested several in past years in West Tx. And I will guess why you said a Blue male on a Bob Female. Because Bobwhite males can't run fast enough to breed a Blue Quail hen!

These are not scaled quail...they are "blobs" which are a scaled (blue) quail/bobwhite hybrid. See my earlier email where I listed Dr.Fidel Hernandez quote.

Thanks Charles for the superb photos and complete details. Very beautiful.

no way a bob rooster can run fast enough to catch a blue hen..

How do they fare on the table?
How are they at survival?

Thanks for the story Charles. Never seen the hybrid cross. Don't have to worry about it now, we have not had an blues for several years now.

I am sure you guys know that it was tongue in cheek.

No comment....

A friend asked the question about reproduction in this quail specie. I sent the question to Dr. Hernandez and here's his reply..."It seems that female hybrids may not be fertile. They tend to produce abnormally small eggs, which usually show no embryonic development. However, a few backcrosses with males of the parental species have hatched."

I'm going with scaled.

Beautiful birds, I've never seen any like this

Check out Craig Nyhus' article on the front page of the latest Lone Star Outdoor News. These are not scaled (blue) quail, they are a true hybrid cross between a scaled and bobwhite. He does a thorough interview with Steve Bentsen, DVM. Dr. Bentsen is an authority on south Texas Wildlife and a reknown nature photographer. The photos were taken by him on his ranch.

I knew Steve Bentsen some 40 years ago. He was fresh out of vet school, and had opened a practice in Kingsville, and we both were into photography. I guess he stayed with it. Good for him! I didn't. I didn't end up with a ranch either

Why are people still guessing when we know it is a Blob?

LOL, was wondering the same thing.

lol

Hmmmm, saw one just like it out at my place in Baylor county yesterday. Had the top-knotch and pronounced scaling. He stood in the middle of the ranch road like I was supposed to go around him :-)

I haven't ever seen them either....They do show scaled, and blue type head, but mostly Bob white..DD

Interesting, never heard of such a thing..I would have said scaley/blue quail, but cool to know that they X and create other creatures...

Anyone with experience know if they tend to run the way scaleys do, or if they hold like bobs?

Those blue quail work my dogs butts off...constantly moving...curious what the hybrids do.