| Blue quail | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Galliformes |
| Family: | Phasianidae |
| Genus: | Synoicus |
| Species: | S. adansonii |
| Binomial name | |
| Synoicus adansonii | |
| Synonyms | |
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The blue quail or African blue quail [2] (Synoicus adansonii) is a species of bird in the family Phasianidae found in sub-Saharan Africa.
The blue quail was described as Coturnix adansonii by Jules Verreaux and Édouard Verreaux in 1851. [3] It is named after the French naturalist Michel Adanson. [4] The species has had a complex taxonomic history, being classified into the genus Coturnix , then Synoicus , then Excalfactoria . Phylogenetic evidence supports it belonging in an expanded Synoicus that, alongside the king quail (S. chinensis) also includes the Snow Mountains quail (S. monorthonyx) and brown quail (S. ypsilophorus). [5] [6] The IOC World Bird List and Handbook of the Birds of the World now both place it in Synoicus. Sometimes considered a subspecies of the king quail, the species is monotypic. [7]
The species is found in sub-Saharan Africa. [2] It ranges from Sierra Leone to Ethiopia, and south to Zambia, and eastward to Kenya. [8] The habitat of the blue quail excludes dry areas. Inhabiting mainly grassland and fields, the birds typically live near rivers or other bodies of water. [8]
The blue quail is 14–16.5 cm (5.5–6.5 in) long and weighs 43–44 g (1.5–1.6 oz). [8] Its legs are yellow. The colour of the eyes varies from brown in the juvenile to red in the breeding male. [2] The species is sexually dimorphic. [2] The male's plumage is mostly dark slaty-blue, with rufous patches on its wings. [9] The male has a black beak, [2] a brown head, [8] and a black and white throat. [9] There is a white patch on its breast. Its flight feathers are brown. The forehead, sides of the head and neck, and flanks of the female are orange-buff. Its crown is brown, with black mottles. [2] The female's beak is brownish. Its underparts are buff, with black bars, and its upperparts have black and rufous mottles and streaks. The juvenile is similar to the female. [2]
The blue quail is migratory, changing regions at the start of the rainy season and again early in the dry season. [2] It eats seeds, leaves, insects, and molluscs. [8] Its voice is a piping whistle, kew kew yew. [9] It also gives the whistle tir-tir-tir when it is flushed. [2] The blue quail is monogamous. The nest is a scrape. Eggs are usually laid at the beginning of the rainy season. [2] Three to 9 olive-brown eggs are laid in a clutch. The eggs have reddish and purplish freckles. They are incubated by the female for around 16 days. [2] The chicks are precocial. [8]
The blue quail has a large range and appears to have a stable population trend. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species has listed the species as least concern. [1]
