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Big Bend National ParkHiker along the Northeast Rim Trail
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Big Bend National Park
The Montezuma quail

the montezuma quail includes:

A Fool's Tale
Resurrection
 
A fleeting glimpse of the Montezuma Quail
S. Sorola, TPWD
A fleeting glimpse of the Montezuma Quail

In the spring of 2005, sightings of the Montezuma quail were documented in the Chisos Mountains for the first time since a reintroduction attempt over thirty years ago. This was the first confirmed sighting in the park since a release in Pine Canyon in the early 1970’s. A Texas Parks and Wildlife biologist who has studied them in different parts of the U.S. was the first to sight a specimen within the park. Research is ongoing to learn more about the extent of this population.

Native to the Chisos Mountains, the Montezuma quail were extirpated from their mountain habitat in the 1930s.

 
Video of Montezuma Quail sightings, May 2005
Click here to view a video of park and TPWD staff looking for Montezuma Quail on the South Rim of the CHisos Mountains. The calls you hear are a TPWD staffer attempting to attract the quail.
Mexican family living at Glenn Springs, 1916  

Did You Know?
The population of the Big Bend prior to the establishment of the National Park in 1944 was approximately 155 people, evenly divided between hispanics and anglos. Most of the hispanic families lived along the river and practiced subsistence farming; the anglo families were mostly ranchers.
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Last Updated: July 29, 2006 at 16:47 EST