GAP Analysis Predicted Distribution Map

Mountain Quail (Oreortyx pictus)

Species Code: ORPI

Legend:
= Core Habitat
= Marginal Habitat

Breeding Range Map
The green area shows the predicted habitats for breeding only. The habitats were identified using 1991 satellite imagery, Breeding Bird Atlas (BBA), other datasets and experts throughout the state, as part of the Washington Gap Analysis Project. Habitats used during non-breeding months and migratory rest-stops were not mapped.

Metadata (Data about data or how the map was made)

Click to enlarge distribution map

Map with Breeding Bird Atlas records

Other maps & Information:

Breeding Bird Atlas
NatureMapping observations
during breeding season
NatureMapping observations
throughout the year

This species was rare to uncommon, and local in shrubby vegetation (including clearcuts) on the Kitsap Peninsula and southwest through Mason County; on slopes above the Columbia River in Klickitat County; and at lower elevations in the Blue Mountains. The populations near the Columbia River Gorge on the Oregon border and those in the Blue Mountains are probably native. Other populations are introduced.

The core areas of use were Klickitat Meadow Steppe, Canyon Grasslands, Fescue/Wheatgrass, Blue Mountain Steppe, Interior Douglas-fir, Oak, and Ponderosa Pine zones in the areas mentioned above. Peripheral areas of use in western Washington were in the Puget Sound Douglas-fir and Western Hemlock zones. In steppe, Oak, and Ponderosa Pine zones, wetlands, shrub savanna, shrubland, tree savanna, hardwood forest, mixed forest, and open conifer forest were good habitats. In other forested zones, all forest openings were good, while hardwood forest, mixed forest, and early-seral conifer forests were included knowing there may be smaller pockets of habitat suitable for this Quail.

Two subspecies occur in Washington O.p. palmeri, and O. p. pictus. The Mountain Quail may now be the hardest quail to find in Washington, assuming the Scaled Quail is extinct in Washington. The Mountain Quail has been introduced in a variety of areas along the Puget Trough, the eastern Cascades, the Wenatchee Mountains, and in southwestern Washington as far east as Vancouver. However, the only sustainable populations appear to be those mentioned above. Apparently, introductions elsewhere in the state continue to fail. Birds in Klickitat County are possibly native. In the Blue Mountains, this species may be native, having extended its range north from northeastern Oregon. A population along the Grand Ronde River may now be extinct in Washington. Birds in Walla Walla County are also probably extinct in Washington, with no reports since 1993.

Translated from the Washington Gap Analysis Bird Volume by Uchenna Bright
Text edited by Gussie Litwer
Webpage designed by Dave Lester