- Coturnix coturnix
Includes: Azores Common Quail, Cape Verde Common Quail, Abyssinian Quail, African Quail
Identification
16–20 cm (6¼-7¾ in)
- Buffish brown with darker brown and white streaks on upperparts.
- Cream supercilium
- Long wings
Male has a black chin
Distribution
Widespread Palearctic region; eastern and southern Africa.
Taxonomy
Subspecies C. c. africana - female aka African Quail
Photo © by Alan Manson
Cedara,, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, September 2008
Photo © by Alan Manson
Cedara,, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, September 2008
Subspecies
Clements recognizes these subspecies[1]:
- C. c. coturnix breeding in Europe (including Madeira) east to Mongolia and south to northern Africa and northern India; migrates to Sahel zone in Africa
- C. c. conturbans on the Azores
- C. c. inopinata on Cape Verde Islands
- C. c. erlangeri in eastern Africa
- C. c. africana in southern Africa, Comoros, Madagascar, and Mauritius
Subspecies africana is split as African Quail by some authorities.
Habitat
Grassland.
Behaviour
Diet
The diet includes insects and seeds.
Breeding
The clutch of 6-18 eggs are laid in a ground nest, and incubated for 16-18 days.
Vocalisation
References
- Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2023. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2023. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Gill, F, D Donsker, and P Rasmussen (Eds). 2023. IOC World Bird List (v 13.2). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.13.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
- Avibase
- Collins Field Guide 5th Edition ISBN 0 00 219900 9
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Common Quail. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 2 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Common_Quail
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
