Painted Bush Quail
Encyclopedia
The Painted Bush Quail is a species of quail
found in the hill forests of India
. They move in small coveys on hillsides and are distinguished by their red bills and legs. They have a liquid alarm call and small groups will run in single file along paths before taking flight when flushed.
This quail is darkish brightly colored with a deep red bill and legs, eye-catching even in flight. The female has brick-red underpart and lacks the white throat and head stripe of the male. The male has a black face with a white supercilium and throat. These quail are typically found in a covey of 6 to 10 birds. They come out in open grassy patches or on forest roads and cart tracks to feed and dust-bathe in the morning and evening. The covey quickly reunites by the constant call of the members to one another. The call consists of runs of soft whistle for rallying the scattered covey. The call is pleasant, oft-repeated triple note kirikee-kirikee-kirikee, by the cock in breeding season.
The nesting season
varies locally, but is said to breed mainly in December to March. Nest
s are typically found in the ground at the root of a bush or grass clump, sometimes thinly lined with grass. The female lays 4 to 7 eggs at a time, which are incubated by the female alone for 16–18 days before hatching. Females are said to defend their young often by attacking dogs and even humans that intrude. Chicks are said to be able to fly at a very early age.
Quail
Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally considered in the order Galliformes. Old World quail are found in the family Phasianidae, while New World quail are found in the family Odontophoridae...
found in the hill forests of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. They move in small coveys on hillsides and are distinguished by their red bills and legs. They have a liquid alarm call and small groups will run in single file along paths before taking flight when flushed.
Description
Distribution and habitat
This species is mainly found in the hill forests. There are two apparently disjunct populations. Subspecies blewitti is found in the Satpuras and extends into the northern Eastern Ghats. This is smaller and paler than the nominate subspecies of the Western Ghats (south of Pune), the Nilgiris and hills of southern India including the Biligirirangans and Shevaroys.Behaviour and ecology
These quails are usually seen in small groups of 8 to 10. When flushed they scatter in different directions and then begin rally calling to reunite. Males are believed to be monogynous. They are pugnacious and trappers are known to use decoy males to capture others. The call of the breeding male is a kirkee..kirkee and other calls include soft whistles which rises and falls in pitch.The nesting season
Nesting season
The nesting season is the time of year during which birds and some other animals, particularly some reptiles, build nests, lay eggs in them, and in most cases bring up their young. It is usually in the spring....
varies locally, but is said to breed mainly in December to March. Nest
Nest
A nest is a place of refuge to hold an animal's eggs or provide a place to live or raise offspring. They are usually made of some organic material such as twigs, grass, and leaves; or may simply be a depression in the ground, or a hole in a tree, rock or building...
s are typically found in the ground at the root of a bush or grass clump, sometimes thinly lined with grass. The female lays 4 to 7 eggs at a time, which are incubated by the female alone for 16–18 days before hatching. Females are said to defend their young often by attacking dogs and even humans that intrude. Chicks are said to be able to fly at a very early age.