Animalia Life

Coturnix chinensis
SUBFAMILY
Phasianinae (Tribe Perdicini)
TAXONOMY
Tetrao chinesis Linnaeus, 1766, China and Philippines = Nanking, China. Ten subspecies.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Asian blue quail, painted quail, Chinese quail, bluebreasted quail; French: Caille peinte; German: Zwergwachtel; Spanish: Codorniz China.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
5–6 in (12–15 cm); male 1.2–1.7 oz (35–48 g); female 1.1–1.4 oz (31–41 g). Males are a dark brownish blue with a lighter bluish gray breast and chestnut belly; the face and throat are black and white. Females are a mottled brown overall and lack the black-and-white coloration on the face and throat.
DISTRIBUTION
Southwestern and northeastern India, Sri Lanka, eastern Myanmar, Indochina to Hainan and Taiwan, Malaysian peninsula, Philippines and Indonesia, northern and eastern coast of Australia.
HABITAT
Wet shrubland, swampy grassland, rice paddy, mainly in lowlands and coastal areas, but up to 6,600 ft (2,000 m) in Sri Lanka and India.
BEHAVIOR
Crouches or runs rather than flying if disturbed; dust-bathes in open drier areas; usually in pairs or families.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Leaves, grass, seeds, and invertebrates, especially termites.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Strong pair bond and assumed monogamous; nest often domed with grasses and sedges; clutch size four to eight; incubation 18–19 days by female; two broods per year in good conditions; chicks mature in eight weeks.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened, widespread but cryptic; likely to be declining as favored swampy grasslands are drained for agriculture throughout range.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
None known.

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