Virginia quail
| Virginia quail | ||||||||||
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Virginia quail male ( Colinus virginianus ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Colinus virginianus | ||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The Virginia quail ( Colinus virginianus ), more rarely also called tree quail , is a chicken bird from the family of toothed quail native to America . It is considered to be the most widespread and best known representative of her family and has numerous subspecies. The Virginia quail is one of the most important game birds in North America . Because of the importance of the hunt for them, it was even given the title of "official game bird" in the US state of Tennessee .
The Virginia quail is a popular aviary bird and has also been resettled as game birds in several regions of the world. It was introduced in the northwest of North America, which is not part of its natural range, in the Bahamas, on various islands in the Caribbean and in New Zealand. Naturalization attempts were also made in the British Isles and in Central and Southern Europe.
features
The 24 - 27 cm long Virginia quail weighs between 140 and 200 g with a wingspan of 36 - 41 cm. The bird has a brown speckled plumage with a lighter underside, whereby the pattern is stronger in the male than in the female. Furthermore, the sexes differ in the over-eye stripe and in the throat patch, which are white in the male, but beige in the female .
The nestlings are grayish beige booths on the underside of their bodies. The sides of the head are yellowish beige, while the forehead is yellowish rust colored. They have a cap on the top of the head that extends to the nape of the neck and is chestnut-red. A blackish streak runs from the eye to the neck. On the top of the body there is a broad, chestnut-red central stripe. The flanks are red-brown with blackish and beige speckles. The beak, legs and toes are brownish pink.
The Virginia quail cannot be confused with any other species in its natural range. The Montezuma quail shows some superficial similarities. However, their range only overlaps with the Virginia quail in southern Texas.
Occurrences and stocks
The Virginia quail occurs naturally from southern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico between the Atlantic coast and the Rocky Mountains . Further west (in California , Oregon and Washington ) it was released for hunting purposes. Although the Virginia quail is still common in parts of its range, its population in the United States has declined conspicuously overall and is completely absent in parts of its previous range. Habitat destruction and the spread of the red fire ant introduced into the USA are considered to be the causes of the population decline .
The Virginia quail lives in bush-rich meadows and sparse forests. It breeds on the edge of the forest. In agricultural regions, she uses hedges and bushes to create nests.
behavior
The Virginia quail lives in groups of 5 to 30 animals outside of the breeding season. At night they lie in a circle in a hollow, with their heads facing outwards, in order to keep each other warm and to quickly recognize predators from every direction. In the event of danger, they fly apart in all directions. In safe situations, however, the quail prefers a typical bird walk, which can even turn into a race.
Virginia quail eat plant seeds and berries as well as small invertebrates such as snails, grasshoppers and Colorado beetles. The vegetable diet includes grass seeds, berries and various agriculturally grown grain seeds. They prefer to look for their food in open areas that have some places with higher vegetation.
Reproduction
The breeding season begins in the south of North America from mid-March, in the more northerly regions until the end of May. Virginia quail can raise two broods per year.
The groups that have formed outside of the breeding season dissolve again at the beginning of the breeding season. The male establishes a courtship territory and calls out the mating call loudly and sonorously from an elevated position ("bob-wide", hence the English name bobwhite ). The female approaching him woos the male by walking up and down in front of them, spreading his wings and bowing again and again.
The nest is a shallow hollow lined with parts of plants. Both parent birds are involved in building the nest.
The female lays a clutch of 12 to 16 white eggs that are 30 mm long and 24 mm thick. The filing takes place every day. After about 23 days incubation , the chicks hatch. They are huddled and led by both parents. Often, possibly even usually, the male takes over the leadership of the young birds, while the female begins a second brood. Virginia quail nestlings have very fast-growing wing feathers, they can fly as early as two weeks old. The contour feathers, on the other hand, only grow between the fourth and eighth weeks. The young birds are fully grown at an age of two months.
Subspecies
21 subspecies are recognized, which are divided into four groups. One subspecies is now extinct.
- Eastern group
- C. v. aridus ( Lawrence , 1853)
- C. v. cubanensis ( GR Gray , 1846)
- C. v. floridanus ( Coues , 1872), so-called Florida-Virginia quail, is found in large parts of Florida
- C. v. insulanus (Howe, 1904) - Key West Virginia Quail - Florida Keys †
- C. v. maculatus ( Nelson , 1899)
- C. v. marilandicus (Linnaeus, 1758)
- C. v. mexicanus (Linnaeus, 1766)
- C. v. taylori (Lincoln, 1915) - plains bobwhite - South Dakota to north Texas , western Missouri and northwestern Arkansas
- C. v. texanus ( Lawrence , 1853) - Texas Virginia Quail - distributed from southwest Texas to northern Mexico
- C. v. virginianus (Linnaeus, 1758) - nominate form
- Grayson group
- C. v. graysoni (Lawrence, 1867)
- C. v. nigripectus (Nelson, 2015)
- Black-breasted group
- Masked group
- C. v. atriceps ( Ogilvie-Grant , 1893)
- C. v. coyolcos ( Statius Müller , 1776)
- C. v. harrisoni (Orr & Webster, 1968)
- C. v. insignis (Nelson, 1897)
- C. v. ridgwayi ( Brewster , 1885)
- C. v. salvini (Nelson, 1897)
literature
- Jonathan Alderfer (Ed.): Complete Birds of North America. National Geographic, Washington DC 2006, ISBN 0-7922-4175-4 .
- Colin Harrison and Peter Castell: Fledglings, Eggs and Nests of Birds in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. 2nd, revised edition, Aula-Verlag, Wiebelsheim 2004, ISBN 3-89104-685-5 .
- Steve Madge , Phil McGowan, and Guy M. Kirwan : Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse. A Guide to the Pheasants, Partridges, Quails, Grouse, Guineafowl, Buttonquails and Sandgrouse of the world. Christopher Helm, London 2002, ISBN 0-7136-3966-0 .
Web links
- Markus Kappeler
- Colinus virginianus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed January 3 of 2009.
Single receipts
- ^ Colin Harrison and Peter Castell: Fledglings, Eggs and Nests of Birds in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East . P. 107
- ^ Colin Harrison and Peter Castell: Fledglings, Eggs and Nests of Birds in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East .
- ↑ Jonathan Alderfer (Ed.): Complete Birds of North America . P.56
- ↑ Jonathan Alderfer (Ed.): Complete Birds of North America . P.56
- ↑ Northern Bobwhite . Wildlife Habitat Council. Pp. 2-3. September 1999.