The Chronicles Of Grant County

Quail Run Street
Deming

A Montezuma Quail seen in the Fort Stanton-Snowy River Cave National Conservation Area. (The photograph was produced by Randy Howard and provided courtesy of the Bureau of Land Management.)

Quail Run Street in Deming was named after the bird.

News articles dating to the early 1890s note that quail hunts were a popular activity in Deming, then located in Grant County. (Luna County had not yet been created.)

According to a statement from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), “American quail are known regionally by various names: Bobwhite, partridge, and quail (blue, California, mountain, and Montezuma). A ready-to-cook quail weighs about 3 to 7 ounces, including the giblets. Due to their small size, they are usually roasted and served whole. The meat is dark, but mild flavored.” The statement was dated March 8, 2023.

The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish noted in a brochure printed in 2008 that the state “…is one of only four states including Arizona, California, and Texas that has the distinction of offering four species of quail to hunters and birdwatchers. These quail include northern bobwhite, Gambel’s, Montezuma, and scaled quail. Quail are one of the most abundant non-migratory bird species in New Mexico.”

This report, and other reports, stated that there had been a decline in the population of quail for a number of years.

“Many factors contribute to this decline, but the fact remain; quail are losing habitat and the quality of the remaining habitat has diminished,” reported the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish in the brochure from 2008.

“Quail require four basic habitat components: food, cover, water, and space,” the brochure detailed. “When habitat requirements are nearby, travel through less-than-optimal habitat is reduced. Optimal habitat quality results in smaller home ranges increasing quail survival.”

Maps in this brochure show that the scaled quail (also known as “blue quail” and “Cotton top”) can be found throughout Hidalgo and Luna Counties as well as in the bulk of Grant County.

Gambel’s quail can be found, according to a map in this brochure, throughout Hidalgo and Luna Counties, almost all of Grant County, and three sections of Catron County.

Almost all of Catron County is within the range of Montezuma quail as are portions of Grant, Hidalgo, and Luna Counties.

The brochure from the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish indicated that the range for the northern bobwhite quail is in the eastern border areas of the state; this species of quail is not generally seen in southwest New Mexico.

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© 2024 Richard McDonough