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Birds

Birds

Common name Common quail
Scientific name Coturnix coturnix
Type Farmland birds
Status Summer

Small bird (about 18 cm or 7 in) with a stubby appearance and earth colour, striated plumage with light and dark spots. Prominent cream-coloured eyebrow and clear throat. The males have a dark coloured anchor shape on the throat and a brown breast. Low-altitude flights, with long wings and fast flappings as highlights.

Habitats

Cultivated areas

Where it lives

Present in open agricultural landscapes, cereal crops, grasslands, pastures and meadows with absence of trees.

How it lives

It is a summer bird, present in Malaga only in the breeding period during the migratory passage. Its breeding starts in February and the quail is able to make 2 to 3 annual layings of 8 to 13 eggs. The Common Quail builds its nest on the ground and feeds on seeds and herbs, although in the breeding period it captures small invertebrates. It is a land bird, usually perched on the ground among cereal or grass.

Where it can be seen in Malaga

In the Great Path it can be watched in stages 16 to 19.

Curious facts

Quails are hard to see and much easier to hear because of their characteristic call. They are birds with complex mating and migratory patterns in which the "groundlover" behavior of the males stands out, able to travel long distances looking for females in heat to copulate with.

Present
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Wintering Summer Resident Migration