My favorite bird. I'm actually feeding a big family of quails that comes to my yard every day. The California quail is a small, plump bird with a short black beak. The male has a gray chest and brown back and wings. It has a black throat with white stripes and a brown cap on its head. The female has a gray or brown head and back and a lighter speckled chest and belly. Both the male and the female have a curved black crown feather on their foreheads. The male's crown feather is larger than the female's. The California quail is sometimes called the valley quail. Used Prismacolor Colored Pencils. The sketch was made in a Strathmore Watercolor Paper, 140 lb. Cold press.