Quail-mama
Chirping
As a quail owner and I have worked closely with vets and have other rescued animals. I felt I needed to clear up this misunderstanding by many who say quails are dumb birds. These game birds are really smarter than you think. They are inquisitive birds and will sit in the hands of their owners to watch T.V. They will race to greet you at the door and even talking softly to you. I have watched the males I have come across an exposed egg and gently cover it up in the bedding with his beak as he passes by. Males can be very protective of their females. They get very upset when one is taken from them. They will crow and may start biting the hand that removed it from its pen. They are basically gentle birds by nature but you can upset them making them aggressive. I have one I raised from an egg that now bites me only , since I removed his sick female. She didn't make it and he mourned becoming very angry with me . He ran up to me and opening his beak as wide as he could so I could see down his pink throat started yelling loudly as if he was screaming he wasn't happy with me. I felt badly for him that his female died and as her sister mourned as well. She constantly pacing back and forth in cage calling out for her and looking around stretching her neck out and she became nervous and hyper. I added 3 young females to his pen but this male doesn't trust me anymore and became aggressive. In protecting his females from me he frantically tries to round them all together in one corner putting himself between me and them. He will also come after my hand when removing the eggs as well. This is far from a dumb quail who clearly thinks he is in survival mode. I don't believe God makes dumb creatures. They are misunderstood birds an we shouldn't assume they are dumb because we don't think like they do. They are worthy of our respect and consideration when caring for them.