King Quail

The king quail is the smallest galliform, measuring 12–15 cm with a wingspan near 25 cm and a weight of 20–57 g. Males have dark-brown upperparts, blue-grey neck and flanks, reddish underparts and a sharply patterned black-and-white face. Females are much plainer rufous-brown with a pale belly. Its piping ti-yu whistle and sharp cheeps often reveal birds concealed in low vegetation (Wikipedia, general species account).

It ranges from India and Sri Lanka across Indochina and southern China to Indonesia and Australia. Wild birds use grassland, marsh edges, scrub and cultivated ground, feeding mainly on grass seeds and small invertebrates collected while walking beneath cover. The female builds a grass-lined ground nest and incubates a clutch commonly reported as four to eight eggs for roughly 16–18 days. The species is resident or locally nomadic in response to water and vegetation conditions (Wikipedia, general species account).