G'day Mark,
Thanks for sharing your observation with us, I am interested to know how you
identified these birds as King Quail which wasn't explained in your posting.
It sounds like you are having prolonged views on the ground which is
probably an experience more typical with Brown Quail, but this doesn't
preclude King Quail.
Compared to Brown Quail female Kings should show an obvious and discretely
defined plain buff throat patch and broad plain buff "eye-brow" continuing
well behind the eye. Male Stubble Quail also have a discrete throat patch
but they lack the broad plain buff "eye-brow".
The black barring across the feathers on the lower chest, flanks and belly
is quite straight with many aligning to form short lines so that the overall
effect is more like lots of parallel lines. On Brown Quail these bars are
broken by a strong white shaft streak which stretches the centre into more
of a "Y" shape, the overall effect is more complex with none of the bars
aligning.
Kings are also smaller, not easy to judge without a Brown standing by and
beware of young half grown Browns.
Cheers Jeff Davies.
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of
Sent: Wednesday, 1 April 2009 11:23 AM
To:
Subject: King Quails
G'day all.
On two consecutive days last week whilst birdwatching at a site at Emu
Plains (next to the Nepean River west of Sydney) I saw what I was sure were
many King Quail. I must have disturbed about 20 birds into flight at
different times, and managed to get decent enough looks at a couple that I
stalked on the track ahead of me to distinguish them as female King Quails.
I would normally tick them off as just that, but of all the birds I saw on
the ground or in the air not one appeared to be a male. Are male KQ's
particularly secretive, or does just a dominant male have the colour, or am
I Iooking at Brown Quail ? I will go back (when the rain stops) and
concentrate just on the Quail but does anyone have any ideas.
(This spot is a great birding site by the way - called Emu Green, an open
area with tall native and exotic grasses with a few stands of casuarina,
eucaplypt and exotic trees.It's bounded and by a bend of the river, Wedmore
Rd and farmland, access via dirt track at the northern end of Russell St.)
Cheers,
Mark Ley.
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