I've been watching my one and a half week old Japanese quail in the brooder and they've been making some interesting noises. I'll try to enumerate each different one:
That's all the sounds I've observed so far, add to the list if you think you've heard something different from a Japanese quail. I know that wild quail can have around 13 different sounds (
), but it seems the domesticated Japanese quail could've lost some calls that aren't as important. One example would be an 'early morning call' made by bobwhites. The video features a national champion in quail calling btw.
In terms of practical applications, the 'tick tick call' could be recorded and then played back to them when the roosters get rowdy with their crows. Not sure if it'll stress them out, though.
- Normal chirping noise. It's low amplitude and repetitive. They chirp more often when there's extra food / water or the lights turn off. They make this noise most of the time.
- Assembly call. It's high amplitude, gets progressively louder and repeats a certain amount of times. They normally do this if they're isolated. They'll rear up as high as they can go each time they make this call. Sometimes the other quail will respond to it with the same sound. They'll normally keep doing this until they've met up with their covey again.
- Yelping noise. It's medium amplitude and only happens once. A quail will occasionally make this noise if another one is pecking at it or they're fighting for food. Hens seem to occasionally make the a similar noise when they've laid an egg.
- Caught sound. It's high amplitude and frantic. Some of the quail freak out when they're picked up and make this sound. It makes the other quail freeze and go silent.
- Tick tick call. It's very low amplitude and is like a sped up frog croak. They'll occasionally make this sound when I'm looking over the brooder. Normally, it's only one of them. It makes all the quail freeze and go silent.
- Rooster crow. Self explanatory.
- Sound of their wings flapping. Can possibly trigger the other quail to take off or start running. Often happens after #4 or #5.
That's all the sounds I've observed so far, add to the list if you think you've heard something different from a Japanese quail. I know that wild quail can have around 13 different sounds (
In terms of practical applications, the 'tick tick call' could be recorded and then played back to them when the roosters get rowdy with their crows. Not sure if it'll stress them out, though.
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