Common quail

Scientific name: Coturnix coturnix

How weight is recorded: Whole weight

Field notes

Appearance

Small, compact game bird with rufous-brown upperparts streaked with buff and blackish markings. Males display a distinctive black throat and face pattern; females are duller with streaked throats. Size is diminutive—easily mistaken for a chick at distance.

Size and weight

Males 80–110 g, females 90–120 g; body length 16–18 cm.

Habitat

Common quail inhabit open grasslands, cereal crops, and cultivated fields with low herbaceous cover. They favour dry to semi-arid plains and steppes from sea level to ~2,000 m elevation.

Distribution

Widespread across Europe, North Africa, Asia Minor, and central Asia. Prefers open cultivated areas and natural grasslands; absent from woodlands and mountains above snowline.

Diet

Primarily seeds from grasses and weeds; also small insects, especially grasshoppers and beetles during breeding season.

Behaviour

Largely terrestrial and crepuscular, most vocal at dawn and dusk. Solitary or in loose pairs; runs or freezes when disturbed rather than flying. Migratory in many populations, moving between breeding grounds in spring and wintering grounds in autumn.

Hunting tips

Look for tracks in soft soil and droppings along field margins; birds favour edges between crops and stubble. Walk slowly upwind through standing grain or long grass to flush birds within range. Approach at dawn or late afternoon when birds are most vocal and active; use pointing dogs effectively to locate and steady birds before the flush.

Whole weight

This species is logged by whole weight — the animal weighed entire, as taken.

Where it is hunted

Listed as huntable in 28 countries in Huntify.

Names in other languages

These field notes are general species knowledge, not legal advice. Always check the current seasons, quotas and firearm rules where you hunt.