Little Button Quail - Meet Bootle and Rosemary!

[Diane]

I knew about Gerald Durrell over 30 years ago, even visited his zoo in Jersey. Used to have a tv program in the UK.

Back to the stone curlew and the buttons....maybe its a "get away tactic" By the time you have woken from your hypnosis session the bird is long gone!

[Jayburd]

quite possible!

[Danny]

Jay, If you are one of those kids that wanders around with an iPod strapped to you all day I have quite a few of his books as talking books if you'd prefer to listen to something interesting. Let me know if you can use them and I'll shoot you a disk. I also have a heap as pdf's if your an ebook person.
Danny

[jusdeb]

So they actually go stiff and stare you down ? What a strange defense mechanism ..would love to see it in real life .

[jusdeb]

drag their beak up and down the wire on the flight, as if not knowing it was there, and yet they have no such difficulties with the glass in the shelter...


Ive noticed this with the occasional parrot ..it reminds me of Jurassic Park where the dinosaurs are checking for weaknesses in the wire .

[Diane]

Guess there is a lot more going on behind the stare than we give them credit for.

it reminds me of Jurassic Park where the dinosaurs are checking for weaknesses in the wire .

Just dont give them any growth hormone

[Nrg800]

Button-quails have an odd defense mechanism. As they are birds who live in cover most of the time, if they see something go past they will just freeze and stare at you, but when it becomes apparent that you have seen it, or if you still wander towards it, the button-quail flushes explosively. I think in the aviary you can stop the flushing by clipping their wings, this is especially useful if your aviary has lots of objects that a quail can collide with. If your worried about how they don't look as pretty with their wings clipped, you can look at a bird and see that you can see maybe two primary feathers on its wing. All you need to do is trim down all the other primaries except those two showing. ;)

[desertbirds]

Nice quail Jayburd. To stop them exploding try to make a decent area of cover (grasses) down one side of the aviary so they dont feel to threatened when you enter.Basically give them a good get away route.Youre not housing these with King quail permanently are you ?

[Jayburd]

thanks everyone....
Danny, I'm afraid I don't own an ipod but it's very nice of you to offer! as for the e-books yes please, thank you!!
Deb, no they sort of walk really slowly past... as a defence mechanism they lay down and try and look like a log.
Nathan, so far mine have just hidden in their bundle of nesting grass, not even flushing if I reach down and touch it. they flush when they are in the open though. I am planning to give them a wing-clip as I don't want them (especially the very flighty male) breaking their necks....
DB Thanks yeah as I mentioned they have their big bundle of nesting grass, and they tend to stay in there or in a clump of grass I planted which basically flops over to make a circular tunnel which makes them feel safe. No, the king quails will be on their way soon, a shame to see them go but worth it, I think.
By the way, if anyone wants 4 king quail (3 normals, 1 cock 2 hens) and a cinnamon hen, PM me.... they are free as long as I know they are going to a good home where they will be looked after
Oh, the male and brown hens are related again PM me for a complicated family history

I have noted that they remind me quite a lot of plovers, especially the male. when he runs, he stands very upright, and goes really fast! they also fly like plovers.... are button quail distantly related to plovers? I know Plains Wanderers are related to south american seed - snipe...

[Nrg800]

Button Quail are in the same Order as Plovers (Charadriiformes)