Common Quail (Coturnix coturnix) [XC79992]
by Jelmer Poelstra from Sao Laurenco peninsula, Norway (song)
Common Quail (Coturnix coturnix) [XC812550]
by Jacobo Ramil Millarengo from Porto das Cinco Ribeiras, Angra do Hero\u00edsmo, Azores, Portugal (song)
Nest
A shallow depression on the ground, in a dense grassy area, sparsely lined.
Eggs (Guide)
7 - 12; buff marbled with various shades of brown. Incubation: about 19 days; by female.
Subspecies
Forms superspecies with Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica), and possibly also with Stubble Quail (Coturnix pectoralis). Has been considered to include Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica) as a subspecies, but the two are apparently sympatric in Mongolia. African populations may constitute a separate species, Coturnix africana. Birds of eastern and central Africa often considered to merit subspecific distinction from those in southern Africa, and thus awarded subspecies erlangeri; this subspecies formerly applied to Ethiopian population only. Birds of southern Africa frequently transferred to nominate coturnix, as deemed to be inseparable; under such an arrangement, erlangeri applied to birds of eastern and central Africa, and sometimes raised to full species level.
The following 9 subspecies are recognised:
coturnix (Linnaeus, 1758) - British Is and north-western Africa east to east-central Russia and east-central India, and possibly to Bangladesh. Winters mainly in Sahel zone of Africa and central and southern India.
confisa Hartert, 1917 - Canary Is, Madeira and Azores.
inopinata Hartert, 1917 - Cape Verde Is.
africana Temminck & Schlegel, 1849 - Sub Saharan Africa, from Ethiopia and Uganda to southern Angola and South Africa (Cape Province), and also Madagascar and Comoros Is; birds from southern Africa winter in Angola, southern Zaire, northern Namibia and western Zambia.
conturbans Hartert, 1917 - Azores.
erlangeri Zedlitz, 1912 - Eastern and north-eastern Africa.
parisii Trischitta, 1939 - Sardinia.
ragonierii Trischitta, 1939 - Tuscany, in north-western Italy.
The Reader's Digest Book of British Birds 1980, 3rd Edition, Drive Publications Ltd ISBN 0 340 25308 8
Birds in Colour Campbell, B., 1960, Penguin Books Ltd
The Pocket Guide to Nest and Eggs Fitter, R.S.R., 1954, Collins
RSPB Handbook of British Birds Holden, P., Cleeves, T., 2002, A & C Black ISBN 0 7136 5713 8
Birds of Britain and Europe Sterry, P., et al., 2001, AA Publishing ISBN 0 7495 3068 5
The Popular Handbook of British Birds Hollom, P.A.D., 1973, H.F. & G. Witherby Ltd ISBN 0 85493 002 7
BirdLife International Species Factsheet