Bobwhite Quail (male)
The Northern Bobwhite Quail (Colinus virginianus), which is known by many as:
Bobwhite Quail
” Bobwhite “
Quail
belongs to the order galliformes derived from the Latin term gallinaceous meaning ” of poultry”. Colinus meaning quail and virginianus implying the first species was discovered in Virginia. These beautiful creatures, related to turkeys and chickens -gallinaceous- utilize their short legs as they move about throughout upland habitat foraging for seeds, insects and select fruits. Their beaks which serve a multipurpose role, are stout and short which are ideal for their feeding characteristics, primarily consisting of upland habitat related seeds and forage.
They possess a beautiful coloration of plumage and the male and female are easily distinquishable by their plumage colors. The male bobwhite quail has a white band of feathers underneath his beak and a white stripe on each side of his head. The stripes on the side of his head start at the base of the beak and both end at the rear, lower portion of his head. The female on the other hand, doesn’t possess these white streaks of feathers but rather these bands of feathers are a light brown on the females. Thus making it easy to distinquish between the male and the female bobwhites.
Bobwhite quail have a high mortality rate and 80% die before they are a year old mostly due to predation of avian species and reptiles such as snakes. Snakes and birds devour many of the eggs prior to their hatching as well as catch many of the small birds for food as well. Make no doubt about it, avian species impose a significant threat to these birds feasting on many of the birds within a covey.
Nature however has a method in which to compensate for the overall quick mortality rate amongst bobwhites as well as many other species of quail. During a good breeding season they are able to have a couple of clutches of eggs with numbers as high as 25 eggs per.
