NOTES

INCUBATION AND BROOD REARING BY A WILD MALE MOUNTAIN

DAVID J. DELEHANTY, Ecology,Evolution, and ConservationBiology Program, 1000 ValleyRoad, University of ,Reno, Nevada89512

The MountainQuail (Oreortyxpictus) is amongthe mostpoorly known of the Americanwest. No comprehensivestudy of the 'breeding biology exists (Gutierrez 1975, 1980). This is unfortunatebecause Mountain Quail populations have declinedsignificantly in (Wash. Dept. Wildlife1993), Oregon(K. Durbin,Ore. Dept. Fishand Wildlife,pers. comm.), Idaho (T. Hemker,Ida. Dept. Fish and Game, pers. comm.), and Nevada(S. Stiver,Nev. Div. Wildlife,pers. comm.). Informationon MountainQuail reproduction could benefit management efforts. Primaryaccounts of the MountainQuail providelittle informationon male and female rolesin reproduction(i.e., Coues 1874, Grinnellet al. 1918, Grinnelland Storer 1924, Bent 1932, Linsdale1936, Miller and Stebbins1964, Gutierrez 1975, 1980). Grinnell and Storer (1924:268) stated, "Females,so similarto the males in plumageas not to be distinguishableunder normal circumstances, are not in much evidenceafter the nestingsites have been selected,"suggesting an assumptionthat primarilyfemales tend nestsand . Miller and Stebbins(1964:70) noted that many male MountainQuail have incubationpatches, and they collectedone such male associatedwith a brood of one-third-grownyoung. Incubationby maleshas been documentedfor the CaliforniaQuail (Callipeplacalifornica). Scaled Quail (C. squamata)(Johnsgard 1988), and ( virginianus)(Clark 1903, Curtis et al. 1993). Males of these speciesalso brood young, as do male Gambel's Quail ( gambelii) and MontezumaQuail (Crytonyx monte- zumae)(Johnsgard 1988). Neitherincubation nor broodingby male MountainQuail has been documented,although incubation patches on malesimply this possibility (Johnsgard1973). Here, I report a caseof a wild first-yearmale MountainQuail successfullyincubating a clutch of 13 eggs and subsequentlyrearing the young unaidedby a female. On 2 June 1993, Dave Pratt locatedand reportedto me a Mountain Quail nest containing6 eggsin second-growthmixed pine forest in NevadaCo., (39 ø 26' 35" N, 120 ø 16' 04" W). On 16 June, I trappedan adultMountain Quail on the nestwhile it incubated.I did not countthe numberof eggsthe day the adultwas trapped,but I did noticethat the nestcontained more than 6 eggs.Two daysafter trapping,the nestcontained 13 eggs,which proved to bethe completeclutch. I placed a radiotransmitter on the quail,took a bloodsample for geneticidentification of sex, andinspected its . The quailhad bully-tippedgreater primary coverts on the upper sideof the wing. Also, primaries9 and 10 were fadedand worn relativeto primaries1-8, a patterntypical of first-yearquail. Together, these features indicated the birdwas a yearling(Johnsgard 1983). Subsequentgenetic analysis, following the methodsof Longmireet al. (1993) as adaptedto Mountain Quail (unpubl.data), indicatedthat the quail was male. I relocatedthe quail nine times each duringincubation and brood-rearing.Reloca- tion timesvaried from earlymorning to dusk,and monitoringperiods ranged from

46 Western Birds 26:46-48, 1995 NOTES

brief visitsto the nestto as many as 10 hoursof continuousmonitoring. During incubation,I alsophotographed and observedthe quailfor extendedperiods from a blind 3 m from the nest. Two daysafter capture,the malewas off the nestfor 10 hoursbefore beginning incubationat dusk.Thereafter, during each relocation, I observedthe maleincubating or, in the early morning, foragingnear the nest. Wheneverthe male was not incubating,I checked the nestfor anotheradult incubating the eggs.I didnot observe anotherquail on or near the nest. The 13 eggshatched on approximately14 July, afterwhich I regularlyrelocated the male with chicks.I endedeach relocationby flushingthe male away from the chicksand listeningto the subsequentreassembly of the adultand brood.The male and chicksvocalized back and forthuntil they were reunited.In no casedid an adult quailother than the radio-markedmale vocalizeto assemblethe brood.Only once wasanother adult Mountain Quail observed near the brood.Twenty-six days after the eggshatched, an adultMountain Quail flushed with the radio-markedmale approxi- mately10 m from the brood.The radio-markedmale quickly returned to the area and, unlikethe secondadult, which was not seen or heard again, vocalizedand assembledthe brood.Twenty-nine days after hatching, I observed12 or 13 chicks withthe radio-markedmale. My lastobservation was made 37 daysafter hatching, whenapproximately 12 stronglyflying young Mountain Quail flushed with the radio- marked male. Together,these observations imply that a singleyearling male MountainQuail successfullyincubated and reared 13 young.Incubation and brood-rearing by males as a regularfeature of MountainQuail reproduction would have strong implications for our understandingof the reproductiveand population dynamics of the species.For example,if femaleMountain Quail are alsoable to incubateand rear young alone, whichis likely,then "pairs"might be ableto rear two broodsduring one breeding seasonby employinguniparental care for each brood.This couldoccur even where the breedingseason is too shortfor two broodsto be raisedsequentially. Thus, the frequencyof uniparentalcare by MountainQuail merits further investigation. Thisresearch was funded by a grantfrom the Universityof Nevada.Thanks are due to V. Boucher,M. Reynolds,and the Universityof CaliforniaSagehen Creek FieldStation for logisticsupport, D. Pratt and D. Davisfor help in the field,J. Longmirefor laboratoryanalysis, and S. Baab and M. Rubegafor manuscript reviews.

LITERATURE CITED

Bent,A. C. 1932. Lifehistories of NorthAmerican gallinaceous birds. U.S. Natl.Mus. Bull. 162. Clark, J. N. 1903. The domesticaffairs of bob-white.Auk 20:161-164. Coues,E. 1874. Birdsof the Northwest.Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. Curtis,P. D., Mueller,B. S., Doerr, P. D., Robinette,C. F., and DeVos,T. 1993. Potentialpolygamous breeding behavior in Northern Bobwhite,in Quail III: NationalQuail Symposium (K. E. Churchand T. V. Dailey,eds., pp. 1-202) KansasDept. Wildlifeand Parks,Pratt. Grinnell,J., Bryant,H. C., and Storer,T. I. 1918. The Game Birdsof California. Univ. of Calif. Press,Berkeley. Grinnell,J., andStorer, T. I. 1924. AnimalLife in theYosemite. Univ. of Calif.Press, Berkeley.

47 NOTES

Gutierrez,R. J. 1975. Literaturereview and bibliographyof the Mountain Quail (Oreortyxpictus). U.S.D.A. ForestService, Pacific Southwest Forest and Range ExperimentStation, 800 BuchananSt., Albany,CA 94710. Gutierrez,R. J. 1980. Comparativeecology of the Mountainand CaliforniaQuail in the CarmelValley, California. Living 18:71-93. Johnsgard,P. A. 1973. Grouseand Quailsof NorthAmerica. Univ. of Nebr.Press, Lincoln. Johnsgard,P. A. 1988. The ,, and Francolins of theWorld. Univ. of Nebr. Press, Lincoln. Linsdale,J. M. 1936. The birdsof Nevada.Pac. CoastAvifauna 23. Longmire,J. L., Maltbie,M., Pavelka,R. W., Smith,L. M., Witte,S. M., Ryder,O. A., Ellsworth,D. L., and Baker, R. J. 1993. Gender identificationin birds using microsatelliteDNA fingerprintanalysis. Auk 110:378-381. Miller, A. H., and Stebbins,R. C. 1964. The Livesof Desert Animalsin JoshuaTree NationalMonument. Univ. Calif. Press,Berkeley. WashingtonDepartment of Wildlife.1993. Distributionstatus of the MountainQuail (Oreortyxpictus) in Washington.Wash. Dept. Wildlife,600 CapitalWay North, Olympia,WA 98501.

Accepted23 October 1994