The Secrets of Quail Whispering Sunday, Jan. 8 We have been working for the past three days at a site that is inhabited by both Gambel's and elegant quail. To arrive there by sunrise, when the birds are active, we leave Álamos at 5:15 a.m. and drive mostly on a rough dirt road. I am becoming strangely fond of this routine, including the road. We have seen two kinds of skunks, foxes, the ubiquitous mules, donkeys, horses and stray dogs crossing the road. Each day, we see a man on a bicycle on his way to Álamos in the dark, wearing a cowboy hat and western shirt. We have seen the greatest concentration of both species of quail around the sorghum fields. The seed we use to bait the traps is hopefully more appealing to the quail than the grains of sorghum. The first day, we catch nothing and are able to get only behavioral data and recordings. The next morning, we do not bother with the nets that we had set near the piles of brush where we had seen the quail. We tried the herding technique we used in Navopatia, but it won't work in these fields or near the brush piles where the quail can stay protected from sun and most predators. Nothing can entice them out. During the next two days, we adjust the trap and net locations with a better idea of the places where the quail are active. The first day, we catch seven Gambel's quail. The Gambel's quail here are small, the female Gambel's have male facial plumage, and they seem sort of tame. After collecting the data and taking photos of particular traits, like the facial plumage and topknot (crest), I ask my assistant, Rafa, to release a quail so I can get a picture of it flying away. Rather than fly away, the quail sits there for seconds. Either this is an especially calm bird or these Gambel's quail are less skittish than their California kin. I try the same thing with another one, and she behaves the same way. We call it quail whispering. The cattle have been feeding around our traps all day. It is only a matter of time until they trample my painstakingly handmade traps (trampas, in Spanish). The ranch owner sees we have a problem and arranges to meet with us first thing the next morning to show us another place, free of cattle, where we can trap quail. It is across the property to the north by fields of milo. We set the traps on the way to the meeting place. At the new trapping site, I am fascinated by the topography - small hills surround big flat fields - exactly the kind of place we would expect the highland (elegant) and lowland (Gambel's) quail species to meet. We find a group of about 12 Gambel's quail. After minutes of playing the Gambel's quail call, one gives a half-hearted response. We try playing the elegant quail recordings. Though we don't see them at first, the quail respond right away from the tangled brush. They approach and then another group of elegant quail starts calling to our recording and the live birds. We record them. It is a good spot, but it will be difficult to trap them since the vegetation is thick and there is too much for them to eat. When we return, we check the traps and find that we have caught our first elegant quail, a female. Despite the cattle surrounding our traps, we leave the traps where they are. But the next time we check them, we find that two had been mangled by the cattle. My "check engine" light has been on for two days, so I call it day and go back to town to look for a mechanic. Back in Álamos, the first mechanic we contact meets me at the hotel. Apparently, it is common for them to make house calls. When he sees the light, he immediately says that I need to see a mechanic who specializes in electrical problems. After two and a half hours, around 5 p.m. on a Friday, the second mechanic arrives. If he finds a major problem with the truck, I may lose my last two precious days in the field. He plugs in his scanner to figure out what was causing the light to appear, but it is blank. He checks the fuses in the fuse boxes. All seem fine. We are puzzled. He starts looking at the console and peers into the car's cigarette lighter receptacle. He feels around and pulls out what appears to be a watch battery. We both laugh at what must have caused the blown fuse. I bought the truck used a few months ago, so I am still learning about its past life. He checks the fuses again, and this time, he finds and replaces the blown fuse. The scanner now works, and everything is fine. I call Rafa, and tell him we leave for the field tomorrow as usual, at 5:15.