Common Quail ( Coturnix coturnix, family: Phasianidae)

common quai kruger national park birds The Common Quail (Latin name Coturnix coturnix) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 200 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 75 also a picture of the Common Quail on page 320. The Common Quail belongs to the family of birds classified as Phasianidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Common Quail is also known by these other names: Quail, Migratory Quail.

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Common Quail is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

In terms of distribution of the Common Quail in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Common Quail : see above distribution map.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

One of the first indicators to take note of when trying to identify a bird is it relative size. For example how big is the bird compared to a well known familiar bird. The Common Quail is a small bird about the size of a house sparrow. Do not take this relative indicator as anything other than a rough easy to remember indicator. It is not a accurate visualization. The height of the Common Quail is about 18 cms and its weight is about 100 gms

The male and female Common Quail have the same plumage and colours

  • Head is brown.
  • Eye is red brown.
  • Bill is blackish brown.
  • Throat is brown, white.
  • Back is black, white.
  • Legs are yellowish pink.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Common Quail feeds on the ground and in foliage mainly

Invertebrates

Fruits

Seeds

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Common Quail takes on more than a single mate (it is bigamous).

The nesting habit of Common Quail is to create the nest on the ground. The bird lays eggs which are yellowish in colour and number between 2 to 14

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Common Quail are: grasslands

You will not see Common Quail in flocks. The bird prefers to act singly or in pairs.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Isagwityi

Zulu ... isiGwaca

Afrikaans ...Afrikaanse Kwartel

German ... Wachtel

Portuguese ... Codorniz-comum

French ... Caille des bls

Dutch ... Kwartel

First bird in list | Previous bird viewed | Next KNP bird | Last bird in list

For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 200

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za