GalwayBirder
Well-known member
Hi, I recently read that quails migrate but I dont know where to. Does anyonw have an idea of where the small guys go?
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Quail Migration (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter GalwayBirder
- Start date
DaveN
Derwent Valley Birder
They will return to central Africa south of the Sahara Desert in late summer.
With good numbers also wintering north of the Sahara, eg in northern Morocco, Egyptian Nile Valley and oasis, etc, also some in Sicily I believe, etc
Capercaillie71
Well-known member
Quail have quite an interesting migration strategy which can involve them moving further north later in the summer for second breeding attempts. Some birds hatched in southern Europe in the spring may even breed later the same year further north. Some info here:
http://www.birdguides.com/webzine/article.asp?a=1690
http://www.birdguides.com/webzine/article.asp?a=1690
Clive Watson
Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit ampheta
They must be the most difficult British species to compile a distribution map for! Interesting to see their breeding strategy compared to that of Painted Lady, never thought of it like that before.
GalwayBirder
Well-known member
Thanks for the help. They look like such ungainly little things i find it odd to think of them flying so far.
Steve Dudley
aka The Toadsnatcher
Not really, at least for males anyway, which are very vocal and obvious. Females however are a different matter and from work I did on the species in 1989 I had up 2-3 males per male present during the summer.
We occasionally get 'quail years' which involve large numbers arriving, often in large numbers as a second wave after the expected spring arrival. It is these second waves which are thought to be made up of adults and young from pervious breeding earlier in the spring in S Europe.
The biggest Quail year was 1989 when it was estimated that British population was in excess of 1600 pairs (RBBP stated 1655 prs and suggested this was an underestimate. A normal year would see c.100+ pairs present.
Clive Watson
Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit ampheta
I meant a general map as shown in a field guide rather than a map compiled from survey results, since the distribution one year is probably nothing like the distribution the next year.
If all the Quail in Britain are all gay, it is no wonder they are not more common
Steve Dudley
aka The Toadsnatcher
Well yes and no. In an normal year we would expect Quail to be thinly distrubed in suitable habitats throughout the whole of England, Wales, southern Scotland and Ireland. So a general distribution map used in field guides would reflect this (e.g. Collins Bird Guide mapos exactly this). Mapping precisely within this general area is more complicated although some areas receive Quail every year (e.g. South Downs, Salisbury Plain area, etc) whilst others will areas will receive Quail infrequently or as a one off (I've had them two out of seven summers here by my house in the fens). I dont know what percentrage of pairs appear at traditional sites each year, but I'd hazard a guess at around 50%.
I think they are the hardest bird in Britain to see, perhaps along with Parrot and Scottish Crossbill.
Cheshire Birder
Well-known member
Birds in my area tend to generally visit the same sites. The birds have been faithful to the same site. Only in influx years do we get more widespread records.
I remember back in the early 1990's at Uni, my first local find was a Quail sheltering by the edge of a football pitch adjacent to the beach in the first week of October!! One of the most bizarre records i've ever had but also one of the best.
CB
Steve Dudley
aka The Toadsnatcher
I wonder how many birders have ticked Quail on flight only views cos thats all they often give you. Even when I spent a summer studying them, getting on the ground views was extremely rare.
Clive Watson
Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit ampheta
That's better site fidelity than I thought. The only thing I really know about Quail is that there are sod all of them in Surrey.
