Quail is the name of many kinds of small-sized birds found throughout much of the world. Quail live on every continent except Antarctica. People commonly hunt these birds for sport or food.
Most adult quail grow 8 to 12 inches (20 to 30 centimeters) long. Males are shades of brown or gray and may have striking patterns of reddish-brown, blue, white, or black feathers. Most females are patterned in shades of brown, tan, or gray. These colors help protect quail from predators (hunting animals) by making the birds hard to see when they sit quietly in a pasture or woodland.
During fall and winter, quail live in groups called coveys. Depending on the kind of quail, a covey may range from fewer than 10 birds to more than 100. The covey helps protect its members from foxes, hawks, owls, and human hunters. When such a predator approaches a covey, the quail squawk loudly and fly in all directions. This behavior often confuses the predator. The covey breaks up in spring, and males and females form pairs for the nesting season. Quail often eat insects and seeds.
A well-known species (kind) of quail in North America is the northern bobwhite. These birds live chiefly in the middle and eastern parts of the continent and in Mexico. During the spring, they build their nests on the ground and conceal them with grass. Females lay 8 to 16 eggs, which hatch in about three weeks.
The California quail lives in western North America. It has grayish coloring with a teardrop-shaped feather rising from the forehead. Many California quail inhabit foothills and mountain valleys and migrate to and from the highlands by walking. Others nest and raise their young in residential areas of even large cities.
Other kinds of North American quail include the Gambel’s quail, mountain quail, and Montezuma quail. The mountain quail ranks as the largest quail, measuring from 101/2 to 111/2 inches (26.7 to 29.2 centimeters) long and weighing about 8 ounces (230 grams). The Montezuma quail is the smallest, measuring 8 to 91/2 inches (20 to 24 centimeters) long. All these birds live in the western and southwestern areas of the continent. The common quail inhabits much of Europe and Africa. Its European populations migrate chiefly to northern Africa and the Middle East. The blue-breasted quail lives in Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands. In June 2006, the Manipur bush-quail was rediscovered in India. Scientists formerly believed this quail had become extinct in the 1920’s.
