Common Quail (Coturnix coturnix)

Small game bird (16-18 cm in length and 32-35 cm wingspan). Colouring is cryptic: a dark back, with numerous pale streaks, a whitish-beige belly and a marked line over the eye. The male has a noticeably black throat, while the female’s is lighter. The quail is often heard before it is seen, as it hides under the cover of herbaceous vegetation, remaining there for long periods before taking flight. In Macaronesia the quail breeds throughout the Azores, Madeira, the Canaries and Cape Verde but is only present in the Savage Islands and islets during migration periods. This species is associated with grasslands and open fields of pasture, cereal crops or vegetables, vines, fallow land, stony flatlands, sand dunes or areas of jable pumice, etc. It remains on the edges of woodland but sometimes occupies pine tree plantations. During migration it can appear in atypical habitats, such as coastal halopyhytic vegetation. This terrestrial bird mainly feeds on seeds and insects, but also consumes the windfall fruits of certain shrubs. In Macaronesia (except in Cape Verde) its breeding season extends from December to September, although most clutches (7-13 eggs) are produced in spring and early summer. In Cape Verde it mainly nests between September and December, coinciding with local monsoon-like rains, and lays up to 15 eggs. It nests on the ground, among herbaceous plants, grasses and vines. The taxonomy of the quail in Macaronesia is a controversial issue. Three endemic subspecies have been described: one in the Azores (C. c. conturbans), another in Madeira and the Canaries (C. c. confisa), and another in Cabo Verde (C. c. inopinata), in addition to migratory numbers traditionally assigned to the nominate species (C. c. coturnix). However, the validity of the subspecies C. c. confisa and C. c. inopinata has been questioned, and the same might be said of C. c. conturbans. Further studies are therefore required to clarify this situation. The quail is very common in several islands of the Azores, Canaries and Cape Verde, and is particularly abundant in the latter. However, in other cases, such as in Tenerife (Canaries), its current distribution is extremely restricted and it has become a rare bird, partly due to the fragmented nature of its habitat. The fact that the quail is a game bird negatively impacts on population numbers, but there have been releases of birds bred in captivity.