Quail is a wild bird that belongs to the order Galliformes. In the old days, it was of extreme interest to hunters. Today, the population of the species has declined significantly. Despite this, quails are still eaten on special farms.
What is this bird? What appearance does she have? Where do representatives of the species live? What is the lifestyle of a quail? The answers to these and other questions can be found in our publication.
Quail bird: description
Representatives of the species are the smallest birds in the chicken order. Quail sizes in length - a maximum of 20 centimeters. Adults are able to gain a mass of about 130 grams. Insignificant body dimensions allow such birds to move nimbly in dense vegetation without being seen by predators.
What does a common quail look like? The plumage of the bird in the back area has a brownish-yellow hue with numerous dark mottles. The feathered belly is light yellow. Thanks to thisit is extremely difficult for a camouflage color to notice quails among tall grasses.
Habitat
Common quail is a bird whose nesting sites are found almost throughout Eastern Europe. In domestic latitudes, it is widespread in Siberia, starting from the upper reaches of the Lena River and ending with the Solovetsky Islands. The quail bird can also be seen in Scandinavia. Quite numerous populations in North America. There is a species in India, China, Mongolia.
Quail - a migratory bird or not?
Representatives of the species that live in latitudes where there is a consistently high temperature of the surrounding space, as a rule, do not leave their inhabited places. So is the migratory bird a quail or not? Only those birds are sent annually to the southern countries, whose homeland is rather cold lands.
Quail birds are practically not adapted to long flights. The maneuvers of the representatives of the species in the air cannot be called graceful. Overcoming significant distances during seasonal migrations, they often descend to the ground to rest. From the northern regions, their path usually lies in African and Asian countries. It is here that quails spend the winter, after which they return to their birthplaces, where they reproduce offspring.
Lifestyle
The quail leads an exclusively terrestrial lifestyle. Representatives of the species rise to the wing only when necessary.migrations, or when there is an extreme threat from predators. In everyday life, the quail bird prefers to hide from enemies in dense tall vegetation, making quick dashes.
The choice of grassy cover as a habitat left a direct imprint on the habits and appearance of the bird. These miniature creatures are extremely agile. They prefer to live in small groups, making short flights from place to place. Quails hover low to the ground, making tight turns in the air before landing. Representatives of the species refuse to hide on the branches of trees.
Such birds get food by digging in the ground. At the same time, they actively rake the ground with their rather powerful paws. Quail in nature likes to "bathe" in the dust, which allows you to clean the plumage and get rid of parasitic insects.
Food
The basis of the daily diet of wild quail is food of animal origin. Representatives of the species prefer to rake the ground with their paws in search of small insects and reptiles, all kinds of worms, invertebrates.
Wild quail also consume a large amount of vegetable feed. They especially like young shoots and leaves of plants. Shed grains and seeds are collected from the quail soil.
Reproduction
The mating season for common quail starts with the arrival of the first warm days of spring. In the northern regions, representatives of the species begin to breed in early summer. Quail and quailform long unions and permanent pairs, which is often observed in other birds. Males and females mate randomly.
Quail nests are built in pre-prepared holes that are dug in the soil. Their surface is lined with dry grass, as well as soft feathers. As a rule, there are about eight eggs in one clutch. In some cases, their number is more than a dozen. The eggs are small and brownish in color with dark patches.
A female common quail hatches offspring for about 3 weeks. After fertilization, the males return to their normal existence and take absolutely no part in caring for the laying of eggs. The upbringing of chicks is also entirely the responsibility of quails.
Newly hatched quail chicks are already covered with rather thick fluff. As soon as the young dries out, he immediately begins to follow his mother everywhere, demonstrating high mobility. Chicks are growing at an incredible pace. They become completely independent, sexually mature individuals already at 5-6 weeks from the moment they are born. By autumn, juveniles accumulate significant body fat reserves, which serve as a source of energy for them during the upcoming seasonal migration.
Reasons for the species decline
To this day, common quail remains one of the main objects of interest for lovers of sport hunting. In the old days, poultry production in the southern regions of our countrywas commercial in nature. This attitude towards birds on the part of man has led to a sharp reduction in the number of the species. A particularly significant decrease in the number of quails is observed in the forest-steppe zones. Previously, these regions had the highest population numbers.
Another reason for the gradual disappearance of the quail bird in its natural habitat is the development of land for agricultural activities. Thus, the areas of grassy meadows overgrown with dense vegetation are reduced. It is this environment that serves as a place for the quail bird to obtain food and breed.
Every year, a lot of quails die during haymaking by industrial machines. Birds often leave their egg-layings when human activity begins in the fields. The problem is that the active phase of work on farmland falls just at the time when chicks are hatched by quail birds.
What does a person do to save the species? In order to increase the quail population, various conservation measures are being taken. As practice has shown, the most effective solution is to create conditions for breeding young birds in nature reserves and special farms.
Economic value
These days, quails are increasingly being bred as poultry. The largest scale of such economic exploitation of birds is observed in the United States. Due to the fact that quails are picky in the choice of food, as well as in living conditions and keeping conditions, they are able to breed quickly in captivity.
It is worth noting that domesticated quails have undergone impressive changes compared to wild individuals. First of all, this concerns an increase in the size of eggs, the mass of which has become approximately 45% larger. In addition, domestic quails lost their ability to fly due to uselessness. Among the birds that are kept in the conditions of farms and household plots, there is a disappearance of the nesting instinct, incubation of eggs, and subsequent care for offspring.
Today, quail eggs can be seen in almost every store. Breeding projects for these birds look extremely promising and profitable. Laying quails are usually kept for a year and a half. In the future, they reproduce a small number of eggs and are suitable only for meat. In captivity, quails do not live long. Deep old age for such birds is considered to be about 4-5 years old.
Quail hunting
In the old days, quail fishing was done at the beginning of summer. The hunt began at sunset. Nets were spread across the grass. The hunter was located nearby, making sounds imitating the cry of a bird with the help of a special pipe. When the lured quail approached the trap, it immediately became tangled in the net.
Today, representatives of the species are most often hunted with a gun and dogs. The height of the fishery falls on the period of seasonal bird migrations. Today, hunting with the use of nets is carried out only with the appropriate permission obtained from the environmental authorities. At the same time, the captureexclusively males, which are fattened and handed over to procurement organizations. In order to preserve quail populations in the wild, females caught in nets are released into the wild.
Features of keeping at home
Quail breeding is a simple task. These birds lend themselves perfectly to taming and domestication, like chickens. You can keep them in terrariums and cages, where there can be 4-5 birds. Nests and perches are not organized for them. In captivity, females lay their eggs directly on a substrate of soil and dry grass.
Places for keeping quails are equipped with drinkers and feeders, which are fixed on the bars outside. The terrarium or cage is placed in a warm, dry room, where moderate lighting is maintained throughout the day. It is not recommended to take quails out into the open, as this leads to their nervous excitement and clashes with relatives.
Breeding representatives of the species in captivity is possible only with the help of incubation of eggs. After all, domesticated females do not feel the need to hatch offspring. Breeders often lay quail eggs in chickens. However, in this case, there is a possibility that they will be crushed.
Quails are fed mainly with grain. Their daily diet includes barley groats, buckwheat, millet, oatmeal. Such birds feel the need for a significant amount of protein food, which is used as minced meat, chopped fish, cottage cheese. Quails are also fed with nettles, carrots, cabbage. Every day the birds are offered eggshells, fine gravel.
Bconclusion
As you can see, the common quail is a rather interesting, unusual bird. Not so long ago, these birds could be seen almost everywhere in the wild. However, these days, impressive quail populations are becoming rarer. Quails are extremely secretive birds. Therefore, studying their lifestyle and habits in order to preserve the species is a rather difficult task.
