THE QUAIL: Description

La Quail belongs to the order Galliformes, family Phasianidae. There Quail the smallest European galliform, has a length of 16-18 cm and has a squat shape, both on the ground and in flight, so much so that it resembles a small Gray partridge. There Quail it is very difficult to see, easier to hear thanks to the characteristic voice of the male audible both day and night. The color of the plumage guarantees perfect camouflage in the low vegetation: it is uniformly sandy yellow, strongly streaked with white, fawn and black on the upper parts. The lower parts are lighter, on the sides there are alternating blackish and whitish streaks, without stripes, and the female shows a fine speckling. The vertex is dark brown with three cream-colored streaks: a median and one on each eyebrow. The male has a black throat, the female lighter, tawny. If flying the Quail it shows long and pointed wings, unlike the other galliformes, and a flight that appears slower and more powerful than that of the Gray Partridge, with rapid and frequent beats. There Quail it is a solitary species, which only aggregates during migrations

THE QUAIL: Habitat and distribution area

La Quail it nests in cultivated fields (alfalfa, clover, cereals), in open areas with herbaceous vegetation and bushes, in uncultivated fields. Extremely adaptable, the Quail it can be found from sea level to the highest mountain pastures (about 2200 m), in all environments with sufficient herbaceous cover to guarantee adequate protection. There Quail it builds the nest on the ground, in the thick of the vegetation, in the shelter of bushes or at the edge of the wood, where it lays from 8 to 13 eggs. The distribution range includes all of Europe south of the Arctic Circle, and excludes northern Great Britain, Scandinavia and Iceland. To the east, the range extends from southern China to India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and Africa, including the Mediterranean area and neighboring Atlantic islands. Unlike the other Palaearctic Phasianids, the Quail it is a migratory species. Few individuals winter in the North, in Ireland, England and Germany, some contingents use the Mediterranean basin as their wintering area, but most of the populations are long-distance migratory, i.e. they spend the bad season in the savannah areas south of the Sahara from Senegal to Sudan. In Italy the Quail it is widely spread as a breeder in all suitable areas, and there are wintering contingents in the South and in the Islands (perhaps in Sardinia there is a sedentary population; Meschini & Frugis, 1993).

THE QUAIL: Size and trend of populations

At the European level, the number of pairs of Quail breeder undergoes wide fluctuations, in relation to the habits of the species which has precise environmental requirements for nesting and a very extensive wintering range. Current estimates report a number of couples between 730.000 and 2.800.000, most of which are located in Russia (around 1 million). There Quail, starting from the early 70s, it has undergone a strong numerical decrease which has seen about two thirds of the breeding populations in central and eastern Europe shrink by 20-50%. The populations of Quail France and Spain appear to be stable, while the quota present in Portugal is decreasing. In Italy, the number of breeding pairs is between 5 and 10.000, a sharp decrease throughout the territory. On a European scale, the numbers of trans-Saharan migrants are clearly decreasing, while short-distance migrants are stable or increasing. The quail that winter in northern Africa find a better habitat than those that cross the Sahara: many of them stop until March-April, reproduce, then embark on the migratory flight towards Northern Europe. The number of Quail breeding in north-west Africa is highly fluctuating, and many contingents are thought to become resident in southern Europe (Tucker & Heath, 1994).

LA QUAIL: Conservation and management

La Quail it is included in the Italian Red List among the threatened species "at least risk". Conservation measures are needed that involve European nesting areas, where the factors responsible for the numerical decline are mainly to be found in the changes that have occurred in the agricultural field. Actions would be desirable including the maintenance and promotion of traditional low-impact agricultural practices, in which mowing or harvesting is not practiced during the nesting and hatching periods, together with the maintenance of uncultivated areas on the margins of the fields and the protection of hedges and rows. The enormous hunting pressure on this species should be reduced and more regulated, together with the introduction of alien species such as Japanese quail , Quail of the rains. The two exotic species negatively interfere with the Quail, and any further release of individuals in the wild should be avoided (Tucker & Heath, 1994; Vigorita et al., 2003a).