Why do quail dig in the dirt

They are readily identifiable by their intricate and bold field marks, a clownish face they used to be called Harlequin Quail , and by their distinctly rounded body and head. Hunters, birders, and hikers sometimes get a jolting surprise when they encounter these birds up close. Then with a burst of loud sound, almost like gunshot, they beat their wings furiously and the entire covey will take off at once.

The explosive sound of their lift-off, en masse, surprised and scared me for a moment. My heart started racing and my pulse quickened. It was my first encounter with Montezuma Quail and I will never forget it as long as I live. In the Tucson basin, they are known to occupy foothills grassland in the Rincon Mountains and the Vail area.

I have not seen or heard reports of other Tucson area locations where they can be found. Chuckar Chukar, an introduced Eurasian species released in several western states for hunting purposes, initially appears very quail-like. Chukars are native to the middle-eastern areas of Iraq and Iran. As an introduced species, they have adapted well to the Rocky Mountain region of the American West. Hunters have told me they are a real challenge and that it takes great skill to bag the limit of this species.

I have seen small family coveys in the Escalante Staircase and the Kodachrome Canyon area of southern Utah. In and around public campgrounds are some of the best viewing opportunities as the birds come by to check for food.

This species is the one most often found in the Sonoran Desert, giving birders more opportunities to study the behavior, life style, and life cycle of these fascinating birds.

They are commonly seen throughout the Sonoran Desert and have proven adaptable enough to become common backyard birds in suburban and even densely populated urban areas. Historical data shows their numbers and range have shrunk since early settlement and pioneer days, but they remain one of the more abundant native species. It is composed of anywhere from six to thirty small black comma-shaped feathers that are tightly bunched and originate from a single spot above the forehead.

Sometimes this top-knot grows longer and has more curve to it than most top-knots. Seeing a bird with such a large top-knot makes us wonder if it interferes with their vision. California Quail have a similar top-knot but they are not seen in Arizona. Mountain Quail, also not found in our area, have a long, almost straight, top-knot that is more like a plume or an exclamation mark than a comma.

The Scaled Quail have less of a top-knot and more of a tuft of short white feathers forming a line down the middle of the head. The Masked Bobwhite and Montezuma Quails lack top-knots altogether. In cooler winter months several families may join together to form a much larger covey forty to fifty or more birds , while in spring and summer breeding months they remain as single family units.

They are much more likely to seen walking along the ground, usually in single file, with the adult male leading the family group, followed by the young and the adult female at the rear. Single family coveys usually number between ten and twenty birds, although as many as thirty have been observed as a single family group.

The largest single family covey I have seen was a family with twenty-seven babies, a sub-adult female, and the adult breeding pair. In our archived article on the history of quail in Arizona on our website wildbirdsonline. Early naturalists working in the region, military outposts, and pioneers along the Gila River valley, in their westward journey, noted in their journals that they encountered flocks of walking quail that were estimated to be in the millions.

Several reports noted that a single large winter covey could easily be a mile or more long. Pictographs and petroglyphs recorded the familiarity of these birds to the native inhabitants in pre-historic times. Predators Being primarily ground-dwelling during daylight, they are wary and always on the lookout for a wide host of predators. Quail eggs, babies, adolescents, and adults are all vulnerable to attacks from other birds, particularly raptors and roadrunners, snakes, coyotes, bobcats, Gila monsters, some insects, human hunters, and others.

It is, however, domestic cats, feral and otherwise, that take more quail than all other predators combined. Flying and Walking Speed While they are most often observed walking along the ground, they can fly short distances to escape predators, establish observation posts, forage in trees and low vegetation, and roost at night.

Even babies ten days to two weeks old can fly up to a roost in the evening with the adults of the covey. Typical flying speed is about forty M. Typical running speed is about fourteen to fifteen M. The sighting of a family group, marching along in single file, is heartwarming enough to put a smile on our faces and make us brake our vehicles when they cross a road or to stop us in our tracks as we walk along a trail.

Clutch Size Due to relatively high predation rates, the quail hens can have multiple broods each breeding season. Here in southern Arizona, the climate allows for a long breeding season. It can begin in late winter and end in mid-autumn, although the bulk of the breeding will take place between March and September, but, depending upon daily temperatures and other climatic conditions, breeding season can begin earlier and end later.

Each adult female will lay an average of ten to fifteen eggs per brood. To insure their continuation, females may rebrood a second time. If, however, predation or natural causes of death mean that only a single baby or two, or no babies at all, survive to grow into adults, the females will continue to brood until enough babies survive or the breeding season ends. Both male and female adults share equally in the responsibilities of parenthood.

Both will make shallow scrapes to serve as nests. These shallow scraped dirt nests are often located at the base of tall grasses, mesquite, cacti, sage, creosote, and other shrubs.

The nests will be minimally lined with grasses, plant down, sticks, feathers, and other objects found in nature. Each individual scrape or nest is only used for a single brood. Once a nesting site is used, the family never returns. Subsequent broods will have a new nesting site. Hens occasionally lay eggs and incubate them in old nests of roadrunners and sometimes even lay eggs in the nests of Cactus Wrens and thrashers.

Many of our customers have unexpectedly found quail eggs in their outdoor potted plants. This should come as no surprise as each laying hen tries to find the best protected location for each clutch. Potted plants are frequently found in private patios adjacent to homes or not in the easy, everyday reach of some of their predators.

Garage doors left open may be an inviting place to find a suitable box or pail to deposit eggs in. Each quail hen lays eggs that are visibly unique in coloration and patterning. Eggs are smaller than most chicken eggs and range from dull white to buff or pink-buff, and irregularly blotched, spotted, or dotted with purples and browns.

Color markings tend to dominate on the larger, more rounded end of the egg. Weight and Age Quail are born precocial, meaning when they hatch out of their eggs they are already feathered, eyes open, and ready to run with their parents. As newborns, they weigh just grams, but they mature quickly and adult males typically weigh between six and seven ounces while their female mates weigh a half ounce to an ounce less.

Average lifespan in the wild is not certain, but a captured bird that had been banded six years and five months earlier suggests that seven to eight years may be a probable average lifespan.

Incubation While only the hen lays the eggs, the female adult will sit on and incubate the eggs while the adult male will usually guard the nesting hen, with or without babies, from a high perch in a nearby tree or bush. Did you know you can clean your hair using powder?

House sparrows take dust baths even when water is available. Maybe the first house sparrow came from a desert climate. If they can clean with dust and save water for drinking, why not?

They might have to use my bird bath after all. The past couple of days I have been weeding my long-neglected yard.

This afternoon, I came home after running an errand to find six sparrows enjoying dirt baths, each small bird sitting in its own little depression of soil once inhabited by a weed. The birds vigorously flapped their wings and kicked up quite a dust cloud, chirping in joy as they did so.

A seventh bird flew in to join the group, but tried to oust one of the bathers out of its bath. The two birds scuffled for a while, with wings beating frantically amidst loud chirping. The interloper was rebuffed, and found a dirt depression of its own. Peace was restored and the joyous bathing resumed. I was standing at my kitchen sink today washing dishes and noticed a lone sparrow seemingly digging a depression into some loose soil under a small magnolia tree by my patio.

There were other sparrows around but, this little guy was taking the lead with his task. Then I watched him flapping about in the depression he made and kicking up the dust. I had never seen that before until today! So naturally I had to google to find out what and why he was doing that. Thank you for your explanation. It makes for something interesting to look at whilst I do the dishes.

Today, I went to the beach with my children. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is completely off topic but I had to tell someone!

It is now lol. I am glad that I found this site which gives me an explanation as it has been worrying me as sparrows are doing this and messing up my lawn. I developed some bad patches in the lawn and the grass does not come back as the sparrows continuously make their holes and borrow in so that only their head sticks out.

They shake themselves around vigorously and create their own little dust bowl. It is quite cute and I appreciate now why they do it. I thought they were attracted to insects in the ground.

Now I just have to find a way of keep the sparrows and my lawn! I, too, saw some sparrows outside my window at work digging and tossing the dry, powdery dirt onto themselves today.

It was cute and fun to see. They seemed to be having a great time. I look out this window every day and have been for years, but this was a first for me. Thanks for the great explanation! Same as the others, I did a quick Google search for an explanation of the behavior. I was watching a variety of birds enjoying the bird bath and bird food in the backyard when I heard several birds near my front door — I looked out and observed sparrows bouncing around in a landscaping area.

Thank you for the explanation! Thanks for the info. Im sitting here in my carwatching birds and thr sparrows are taking dust baths. I always wonderef about this. Lowering the breast to the ground and rolling, swaying, or rocking may deepen the shallow depression. The bird will flip its wings vigorously, similar to bathing in water, to spread dust over the entire body. During this frantic motion, the feathers may be fluffed and the tail spread so the dust can reach the skin more easily.

The bird may also rub its head to the ground to coat the shorter feathers on the cheeks. After a few moments of this dry bathing, the bird will pause to catch its breath or look around, but the bathing motion may be repeated several times until the bird is sufficiently coated in dust.

At that time, the bird may fly to a nearby perch or will first shake off some excess dust before perching. Preening or sunning often follows immediately after a dust bath as the bird continues its extensive grooming regimen. When birders see a dusting bird, they may initially be concerned that the bird is injured, sick, or under attack. Depending on the species, birds may take several dust baths each day, and often return to favored spots that already have popular wallows and suitable soil for dusting.

Some birds dust alone, while others may visit larger wallows in flocks, with several birds dusting at once while others wait nearby for their turn to use the best dusting spots. Adding a dust bath area to a bird-friendly landscape is a great way to make an area more attractive to birds and encourage this entertaining behavior. If birds have already adopted a section of a sun-exposed flowerbed, dirt pile, gravel driveway, or sandbox for regular dusting, the area can easily be preserved for their use.

If no such area exists, build a dust bath by providing a dry, sunny area with fine-grained soil free from clumps, plants, or rocks. Breaking up dirt clumps and keeping the soil very dry is essential for it to be an attractive dust bath, and there should be shelter nearby for birds to retreat if they feel threatened. Prune shrubs or plants next to the dust bath that could conceal a predator right at the bath's edge, however, and take steps to discourage feral cats or other predators that could threaten dusting birds.

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