Common Quail

The common quail is a migratory ground bird breeding from Europe and Turkey through Central Asia to China. Wintering populations occur in India, China, Southeast Asia, the Nile Valley, northwestern Africa, and across sub-Saharan Africa. It primarily inhabits dense, tall grassland and cultivated fields, particularly wheat, clover, and other small-grain crops that provide nesting cover. Adults are compact and cryptically patterned, averaging 17.5 cm long and weighing 70–155 g, allowing them to remain concealed in ground vegetation. (Animal Diversity Web)

Common quail eat substantial quantities of weed seeds, cereal gleanings, and other plant material. Beetles, true bugs, ants, earwigs, grasshoppers, and insect larvae provide protein, particularly important to breeding females and growing chicks. Courtship and pair structure vary, and males may compete intensely for females. The female prepares a shallow, vegetation-lined ground nest and performs incubation without male assistance. A usual clutch contains approximately eight to thirteen eggs. Incubation lasts about seventeen to twenty days, producing precocial chicks capable of leaving the nest quickly. (Animal Diversity Web)