Common quail

The common quail (Coturnix coturnix), or European quail, is a small bird that nests on the ground and belongs to the pheasant family. It migrates over long distances, raising its young in the western Palearctic and spending winters in Africa and southern India. Its call—three quick chirps repeated three times—makes it far easier to hear than to see. This bird is common across Europe and North Africa, and the IUCN lists it as a species of least concern. It differs from the Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica), which lives in Asia and has a very different call, though the two look alike. Like its Asian relative, the common quail is sometimes kept as poultry.

**Taxonomy** Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus first described the common quail in 1758 in his *Systema Naturae*, naming it *Tetrao coturnix*. The Latin word *coturnix* simply means common quail. Today it belongs to the genus *Coturnix*, which French naturalist François Alexandre Pierre de Garsault introduced in 1764. Scientists once thought the common quail and the Japanese quail were the same species, but their ranges meet in Mongolia and near Lake Baikal without interbreeding, and captive hybrids have reduced fertility, so they are now considered separate. Five subspecies are recognized: *C. c. coturnix* (breeding from Europe and northwest Africa to Mongolia and northern India, wintering in Africa and central and southern India); *C. c. conturbans* (Azores); *C. c. inopinata* (Cape Verde Islands); *C. c. africana* (sub-Saharan Africa and three islands); and *C. c. erlangeri* (east and northeast Africa).

**Description** This compact bird measures 16–18 cm long with a wingspan of 32–35 cm and weighs 70 to 140 grams, with females slightly heavier than males on average. Weight peaks just before migration at the end of the breeding season. Its brown body is streaked, and it has a white stripe above the eye; males also have a white chin. Unlike most gamebirds, which have short wings, the common quail has long wings suited to its migratory habits. The name “quail” likely comes from Old French *quaille*, possibly from a Germanic root imitating the bird’s call, or from Proto-Germanic.

**Distribution and habitat** This bird lives on the ground, eating seeds (including weed seeds and leftover grain) and insects such as beetles, true bugs, ants, earwigs, and orthopterans, plus their larvae. It is very hard to spot, staying hidden in crops and preferring to creep away rather than fly. Even when flushed, it flies low and quickly drops back into cover. The male’s repetitive “wet-my-lips” song, heard mostly in mornings, evenings, and sometimes at night, is often the only sign of its presence. Unlike most gamebirds, it is strongly migratory. The common quail has been introduced to Mauritius several times but never established a population and is now likely extinct there.

**Behaviour and ecology** **Breeding** Males usually reach the breeding grounds before females. In northern Europe, laying starts around mid-May and can continue into late August with repeat clutches. The female scratches a shallow nest in the ground, 7–13.5 cm across, lined with a little vegetation. She lays one egg per day, producing a clutch of 8 to 13 eggs. The eggs are off-white to creamy yellow with dark brown spots or blotches, averaging 30 mm by 23 mm and weighing about 8 grams. Only the female incubates, starting after the last egg is laid, and the eggs hatch together after 17–20 days. The chicks are precocial—they leave the nest soon after hatching and feed themselves—but the female broods them when they are small. They fledge at about 19 days old and stay with the family group for 30–50 days. Most breed for the first time at one year old and raise only one brood per season.

**Relationship to humans** The common quail is heavily hunted as game, especially during migration through the Mediterranean region. Large numbers are caught in nets along Egypt’s Mediterranean coast. In 2012, an estimated 3.4 million birds were trapped in northern Sinai during autumn migration, and possibly as many as 12.9 million across all of Egypt. In recent years, hobbyists in the United States and Europe have increased their propagation of this species, though it is declining in parts of its range, such as Ireland. In 1537, Queen Jane Seymour, third wife of Henry VIII and pregnant with the future Edward VI, developed a strong craving for quail, prompting courtiers and diplomats abroad to secure supplies for her.

**Poisoning** If common quails have eaten certain plants—though which plants remains debated—their meat can be poisonous. About one in four people who eat such meat develop coturnism, which causes muscle soreness and can lead to kidney failure.

**In culture** In the Bible, the Book of Numbers, chapter 11, tells of a wind that brought a huge mass of quails, which the Israelites took as meat in the wilderness.