A quail trap from Malaysia, also known as the jebak puyuh: A female quail was placed in the woven container behind the netting. As the female called out, a male mate would approach and then the trap would fall on him. Quails are now rarely found in the wild in Malaysia, so such devices now serve as decoration.[1]
The buttonquails or hemipodes, despite their common name and similar resemblance to smaller members like the Asian blue quail (erroneously called "button quail"), are not related at all.[3] They are presently placed in the family Turnicidae of the order Charadriiformes, in the same category as shorebirds.
Old World quail are small, plump terrestrial birds. They are seed eaters, but will also take insects and similar small prey. They nest on the ground and are capable of short, rapid bursts of flight. Some species, such as the Japanese and common quail, are migratory and fly for long distances.[5][6] Some quail are farmed in large numbers. The common and Japanese (or coturnix) quail are both raised for table meat or to produce eggs. They are also readily hunted, often artificially stocked on game farms or to supplement wild populations.
Migrating common quail are known to eat some poisonous seeds with no apparent ill effects but store the poison in their body fat, poisoning people who subsequently eat these birds; this condition is known as "coturnism".[7]
References
↑Phillips, Lori Byrd (March 8, 2012). "Wikipedia Image of the Week #2". Wikipedia in Residence. Children's Museum of Indianapolis. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
↑"Galliformes". bird-phylogeny (in German). Retrieved 2021-08-21.
↑Coturnism: Human Poisoning By European Migratory Quail Journal of Cultural Geography Volume 7, Issue 2, 1987, Pages 51 – 65 Authors: David C. Lewisa; Elizabeth Metallinos-Katzarasb; Louis E. Grivettic doi:10.1080/08873638709478507
