Kevin Prentice, age 11, of McAllen, Tex., for his question:
ARE THE QUAIL AND THE BOBWHITE THE SAME BIRD?
Quail is a name given to more than 100 different kinds of birds. Americans use the name for several birds of the grouse family. The best known of these is called the bobwhite.
The bobwhite is called a quail in northern and eastern United States and in Canada, but Southerners call it a partridge.
The bobwhite gets its name from its whistling call, which sounds like ah bob white. It is the only kind of quail native to the area east of the Mississippi River. It usually lives in the region from the Gulf states to southern Ontario.
The bobwhite is a plump bird that is about 10 inches long. It has reddish brown feathers with black, white and buff markings. The feathers make the bobwhite look as if it had a speckled jacket.
The bobwhite builds its nest on the ground and lives in the grass. A brood may include from 10 to 18 eggs or more.
Weeds provid half of the bobwhite’s food. The rest is grain, wild fruit and insects. The bobwhite eats insect pests such as chinch bugs, grasshoppers, doll weevils, army worms and cutworms. The bobwhite is definitely a friend of farmers because of all the harmful insects it eats.
Quail flesh is a very popular food. Hunters have killed so many of the birds that many states have now passed hunting laws to protect them.
Quails scatter at the approach of an enemy, including man. Then they sound a gathering call. Bird authorities believe quail gather together this way.
Other kinds of American quail include the California quail, Gambel’s quail, mountain quail, scaled quail and Mearn’s quail. The mountain quail is the largest and the Mearn’s quail is the smallest.
All American quails except Mearn’s have crests that stand out from their heads.
Unlike the bobwhite that has reddish brown feathers with black, white and buff markings, the rest of the American quail usually have slate blue, olive brown or black and white feathers. Most of these birds can be found in the Western and Southwestern states.
The bobwhite has been successfully introduced in Hawaii, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Arizona, Colorado and Texas. Other members of the quail family are also found in this area.
Quails seem reluctant to fly, and will often elect to run when there is something frightening around.
Quails can definitely be described as chicken like birds. They are plump and often they scratch for food, just as chickens do.
Quails belong to the pheasant family, Phasianidae. The bobwhite is genus Colinus, species C. Virginianus.