Gardening and Horticulture - quails

We have these quails that come around occaisionally, was wondering if they eat regular birdseed?

I notice them searching the ground, are they ground feeders, and is there something else they would eat?

Is there anyway to attract more (or do I just keep feeding them?)

Are they around for only certain parts of the year? It seems I only see them in the spring.

I live in eastern Washington (Spokane)

Thanks

There are two varieties of quail that can be found in Washington. They are the mountain quail and the California quail which is more common in Spokane. There are also several varieties of grouse. See this link from the Washington Ornithological Society for birds sighted in Washington. You might also want to scroll down to the bottom and click on 'WOS Home' so you can contact them.

http://www.wos.org/WAList01.htm

Also you might want to look around here.

http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/othrdata/chekbird/r1/chanscab.htm

I would suggest you go to www.google.com and put in quotes the names of these birds. For example "California quail" gave me over 11,000 hits with the first site showing pictures. Some of these sites should give you info on what they eat and need for shelter and breeding. You could also try the library and look at one of the bird guides to be sure of exactly what you are seeing if you can't find it on the internet through google or another source.

Millet will attract quail. Cracked corn, milo, wheat and oats will attract the quail and partridge. The spruce grouse eats the needles and buds of evergreens. The sharp tailed grouse eats the leaves, buds and flowers of a variety of plants.

If what you are seeing is the sharp tailed grouse, then I think Cornus canadensis - bunch berry, Gaultheria ovatifolia – slender wintergreen, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi - Kinnikinnick, Luetkea pectinata – partridgefoot and Mahonia (Berberis) nervosa – low Oregon grape would be good food sources.

Here's a site that might be helpful. Click on 'Native Plants for Western Washington Gardens' and 'Native Shrubs for Eastern Washington Gardens'. These will give you a great deal of info as well as the other links.

http://www.wnps.org/gardening.html

Also, try searching out info on these plants at www.google.com. Once you have the name of the plant you can enter it in the search box in quotes, preferably using the Latin name like this "Arctostaphylos uva-ursi". You can also click on 'Images' if you just want to see pictures of the plants.

Good luck,
Newt