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Common Quail (Coturnix coturnix) Alternate name(s): "European Quail", "Quail" German name(s): "Europäische Wachtel" Size: 18-22 cm Weight: 90-130 g

Europe: Family Group 1 Family Group 1 Table Red-legged Partridge Barbary Partridge Grey Partridge Common Quail Common Pheasant Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names European birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Common Quails are small game birds. Their plumage is highly cryptic and dimorphic, i.e. males and females are slightly different. Most of the plumage of the two sexes is alike, apart from a black streak down the chin in males that bifurcates into a partial collar, and matching horizontal black streak from the base of the bill towards the ear coverts. Females, instead, have a double brown semi-circular margin around the cream-coloured head creating a facial mask. Both sexes have a creamy front with sparse darker streaking and the typical, dark brown/grey/creamy streaked upperparts of mostly ground-dwelling birds. The head has a brown, streaked cap with a thin central creamy streak, while the sides of the head are also dominated by creamy hues, dissected by darker eye-stripes. The irises are brown. The short, down-curved bill is dark-grey and the legs and feet are greyish-pink.

Taxonomy, classification See Common Quail at Wikipedia . Click here for classification information Quail vs. Button-quail Although the two genera of the true quails, Coturnix, and the button-quails, Turnix (of which there are no representatives in Europe) are outwardly very similar, and therefore often listed together, there are significant differences between them. Genus Coturnix Button-quails, Turnix Common name True quails Turnix, Button-quails Similar species Chicken-like Wader-like Toes 4 toes, one of which points backward 3 toes, all of which point forward Nesting habits Communal Non-communal Main incubator Female Male Incubation period ca. 21 days ca. 14 days No. of eggs 8-12 ≤ 4

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Common Quail is available HERE . As opposed to other species of gamebird, Common Quails are mostly migratory. There are 4 extant races. Their overall range extends from various island groups in the northern Atlantic, via large parts of Africa (including Madagascar) and Europe, into Asia Minor, the Middle East, Arabia and large parts of Asia (as far eastwards as Mongolia) and the Indian subcontinent. In Europe only nominate race "coturnix" is present. There are some areas where Common Quails are sedentary, namely (across from an also sedentary population on the North-west coastal fringe) in parts of Iberia and along the Mediterranean coastline, i.e., in parts of southern Iberia, on the Cote d'Azure and in parts of Greece, including Crete. Anywhere else up to ca. 55 degrees latitude, with the exception of the high Alps, they are summer breeding migrants. Common Quails preferably live in open grassland, often on plains, but also meadows, preferably with clover, and on fields with commercial crops.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "coturnix" J. Pires reports spotting a Common Quail, nominate race "coturnix", "pratincola", at Vilarelhos, Tras os Montes, Portugal, in May 2018. All sighting and photographic information presented on this page has kindly been contributed by J. Pires.

Photos

Race "coturnix"

ADULT

FEMALE

Near-frontal view of a female Common Quail; note the absence of a black mark on the throat (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vilarelhos, Tras os Montes, Portugal, May 2018]

Lateral view of a female Common Quail (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vilarelhos, Tras os Montes, Portugal, May 2018]

Food, Diet

Lateral view of a female Common Quail taking a grain (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vilarelhos, Tras os Montes, Portugal, May 2018]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

More Common Quail sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us: We hereby acknowledge the original custodians of the land which is described on these pages, including the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people of the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW, and the traditional owners of other lands and nations within this country. We acknowledge elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.          Last updated: Sun, 21 June 2020, 22:05 +00:00