Quail
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Quail
Bird
A small game bird often kept on farms for its highly prized eggs.
💡 Fun Facts
- Quails are small, plump ground-dwelling birds that prefer walking to flying.
- They are famous for their beautiful, speckled eggs.
- It is Britain's only migratory gamebird, far more often heard than seen — the male's liquid 'wet-my-lips' call carries across the summer cornfields where it hides.
Name Story
Coturnix coturnix
means “quail-quail — the sound of its own voice”
a traditional storyThat both 'Coturnix' and 'quail' imitate the bird's call is the widely accepted explanation, but sound-origins like this cannot be proven for certain.
What does its name mean?
- Coturnix — quail — a word thought to copy the bird's clipped callLatin
- coturnix — repeats the genus, so the name says it twiceLatin
- quail — also thought to echo the same callEnglish, via Old French quaille
Both of its names are really the bird's own voice written down. This shy summer visitor is far more often heard than seen, calling a rhythmic little note that people in Britain remember as 'wet-my-lips'.