European quail

Description

Adult males, also called quail cocks, have an overall grey-brown colouration with a multitude of reddish-brown and black streaks. On the middle of the head as well as on the sides of the crest, the white shaft lines of the feathers form three longitudinal stripes. The sides of the head are dark dashed. A reddish band runs from the angle of the beak, enclosing the whitish throat at the side. This reddish band is in turn bordered by an indistinct creamy white band with a narrow brown edge. A brown stripe runs across the middle of the throat. The upper chest is cream coloured with small white longitudinal stripes, changing to white-grey in the lower chest area, which also extends over the belly.

The front dorsum has black horizontal stripes and spots, the white shaft stripes of the feathers give a longitudinal pattern. The wings are grey. Wing coverts and wing feathers have a transverse pattern of thin whitish stripes. The rump and upper tail are dark with a transverse pattern of broad black and narrow reddish and white stripes.

The females, also called quail hens, are very similar to the males. However, they are usually only a solid white-grey on the breast and fore-neck. The band bordering the throat only extends to the side of the throat.

Both the cocks and the hens have a small and curved beak. The size of the quail is about 15 to 20 cm, its weight about 90 to 110 grams. Adult birds moult part of their small feathers in March and April. The annual complete moult begins in the second half of June, but moulting times can vary greatly from individual to individual.

Young birds are coloured similarly to females, but their plumage is slightly duller. The chicks are pale yellowish beige on the underparts. The upperpart of the body is orange-beige with a dark forehead patch. Starting from the forehead patch, two parallel, dark parietal stripes extend to the nape of the neck. A blackish brown central stripe runs down the middle of the back to the tail. There are two dark stripes on each wing.

Due to their small size and predominantly grey plumage, quails cannot be confused with any other species in Central Europe.

The habitat of the quail are open fields and meadows with a high herb layer providing cover. It prefers areas with deep to somewhat moist soils. Typical breeding habitats are cereal fields, fallow land, alfalfa and clover fields. However, it also occurs in salt marshes with salt weed stands and in loamy wormwood steppes. At higher altitudes, it also inhabits meadows surrounded by forest.

The text is a translation of an excerpt from Wikipedia (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wachtel_(Art)). On wikipedia the text is available under a „Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike“ licence. Status: 14 December 2021