Rain Quail
Coturnix coromandelica
Streaky, small football-shaped bird, most often seen in flight as it flushes from almost underfoot. Male unmistakable, with natty black-and-white face pattern and triangular black splotch on the chest that resembles spilled paint. Female very similar to Common and Japanese Quails, distinguished by range and by proximity to a male. Inhabits grassy, open areas such as farmland, meadows, and grasslands. Disperses after breeding, occasionally to higher elevations. Male’s song is an odd, songbird-like pair of repeated high squeaks.
Identification
The rain quail lacks barring on primaries. The male has a black breast-patch and distinctive head pattern of black and white. The female is difficult to separate from female common quail and Japanese quail, although the spots on the breast are more delicate. It is 6–6.5 in (15–17 cm) and weighs roughly 2.25–2.5 oz (64–71 g).<p>The call is a metallic pair of quit- quit nots, constantly repeated mornings and evenings, and in the breeding season also during the night. It is quite unmistakably distinct from the call of the common grey quail.
Taxonomy
The rain quail was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the quail like birds in the genus Tetrao and coined the binomial name Tetrao coromandelicus. Gmelin based his description on "La Petite caille de Gingi" that had been described in 1782 by the French naturalist Pierre Sonnerat in his Voyage aux Indes orientales et a la Chine. The rain quail is now one of six species placed in the genus Coturnix that was introduced in 1764 by the French naturalist François Alexandre Pierre de Garsault. The genus name is the Latin for the common quail. The specific epithet coromandelica is from the type location, the Coromandel Coast of southeast India. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
- Scientific name
- Coturnix coromandelica
- Authority
- (Gmelin, JF, 1789)
- Order
- Galliformes
- Family
- Phasianidae
- Genus
- Coturnix
Range and habitat
Grassland, cropped fields, and scrub in the Indus valley of central Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan, ranging across the Gangetic plains, and parts of peninsular continental India. Mostly seen in winter further south.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The rain quail feeds on seeds of grasses and other plants, insect larvae and small invertebrates. Breeding takes place between March and October, but chiefly after the start of the southwesterly monsoon season in June. The eggs are laid in a scrape in the ground, sometimes in the open under a Euphorbia or similar bush. There are usually six to eight eggs in the clutch. The incubation period is sixteen to eighteen days. The chicks are able to leave the nest soon after they have hatched and remain with their parents for about eight months.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Yellow-legged Buttonquail
Turnix tanki
Hardly bigger than a sparrow, this odd little ground bird has a disproportionately loud song. The booming hoots the female gives during the breeding season are often the easiest way to find this species in the open grassy habitats it occupies. Females are more vividly colored than males, with a bright orange breast and nape, yellow belly, white throat, and speckled gray upperparts. Males have a faded version of the same general color scheme, but have less spotting on the breast and a tan throat.
White-rumped Swiftlet
Aerodramus spodiopygius
A small, mostly gray swiftlet, paler beneath with a pale throat and darker cap. White rump varies from white to pale gray. Occurs over a wide range of habitats up to 1900 meters of elevation. Similar to both Uniform Swiftlet and Mayr’s Swiftlet, but smaller, with a paler rump. Main call is a pleasant twitter, “twee-twee-chew-chew.”
Atlas Wheatear
Oenanthe seebohmi
Small thrush-like bird with distinctive black-and-white tail pattern that is striking in flight. Breeding male has a black face, throat and wing, gray back and crown, and white underparts. Breeding female is duller, with a brownish crown and back, and usually a speckled blackish face and throat. Nonbreeding and immature birds are duller overall, though males retain their distinctive black throat. Breeds in the Atlas Mountains of northwest Africa, in areas of bare rock and short grass. Migrates south into the Sahel, where it spends the non-breeding season in a variety of open habitats such as grasslands and barren rocky plains. Tends to stay on the ground or on low perches. Jumbled-sounding song is quite variable, often including whistles, trills, and mimicry. Similar in appearance to Northern Wheatear, though male Atlas Wheatear is usually separated by its black throat. Separating females during migration and on the wintering grounds is usually difficult. Female Atlas Wheatear has a black “wingpit” and front part of the underwing, but this is hard to see in the field.
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