Bobwhite quail; photo by leshoward on Flickr (noncommercial use permitted with attribution).
Official State Game Bird of Georgia
Georgia designated the bobwhite quail (Toxostoma rufum) as the official state game bird in 1970 (Georgia's state bird is the brown thrasher). All State Birds
Bobwhite Quail Facts
Also known as a partridge, the bobwhite quail is a small, chunky brown bird with a short tail. The male bobwhite quail has a sharply-defined white throat and white stripe above the eyes (the female has a buff-colored throat patch and eye stripes).
In spring the male bobwhite whistles a clear bobwhite call which the female answers with a 4-syllable whistle. The bobwhite hen lays 10-20 white eggs (more than almost any other bird).
From 1970 Joint Resolution
"... Whereas, the familiar “bob-bob-white” whistle of the Bobwhite Quail has charmed Georgians, and accompanied them in their work and play since the state was merely a territory occupied by British colonists in 1733; and
Whereas , thousands of Georgia sportsmen annually trek to the fields to bag their limit of the Bobwhite Quail; this marvelous bird can withstand a loss of two-thirds of its population with no reduction in the spring breeding population, thus providing the Georgia huntsmen with continued exciting sport; and
Whereas, Georgia has long been hailed as the “Quail Capitol [sic] of the World”, and it seems to be only fitting and proper that the Bobwhite Quail (of the genus colinis) be given the recognition it is due.
Now, therefore, be it resolved by the General Assembly of Georgia ... that the Bobwhite Quail is hereby designated as the official Georgia State Game Bird."
