Do quail roos defend their girls?

[MomFoldingLaundry]

I’m in a discussion on another board about quail behavior, and I need to understand something...

1. Do male quail go after/attack/warn away predators the way a chicken rooster would?

2. Do male quail crow to scare away predators?

I really thought the crow was just to show off for the girls. In fact, I believe it’s what’s called a “costly signal” of fitness. (As in, it’s costly for a the male to risk getting eaten in order to crow, so crowing exists to “show off” how brave he is.)

I don’t think crowing has anything to do with defense. Particularly as male quail are not exactly scary to any animal besides a worm.

But am I wrong here?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Males don't really have a chance to defend against predators. They seem more likely to run if needed

 

[CovidtimeQuail]

I think they crow to scare away other quail roo.

 

[Nabiki]

I've never seen any of my roos try to protect anyone. They don't have the natural weapons that a chicken rooster has, so they're not built for any type of fighting other than quail on quail.

 

[shrimpsilkies]

My roo crows if I pass the coop at night and sometimes crows if he hears a dog bark or goose honk. Most of the time though he just does it for display. He doesn’t do defense over anything except his food.

 

[Quailobsessed]

My males definitely show defensive behaviour for their females, but it's usually just from other birds, not predators.

 

[Kiki]

No and no.

 

[MomFoldingLaundry]

Okay, thanks. I’d thought about correcting people on facebook about this...but ultimately walked away.

If people wanted to know real answers, they’d be on BYC, not asking randoms on FB.