Quails timid? Not these!

When I brought home the last quails (is the plural ‘quail’ or ‘quails’?), I had an in mind an image of quiet, timid little birds that would live in their run with little fuss.

For the first couple of weeks the new and the old quail stayed out of the way, running up and down against the wall of the run furthest from where I was. The Japanese quail often froze and huddled down when disturbed by almost anything.

Something’s changed with the advent of winter. They shout and yell and push over each other near the feeder when anyone opens the front door. Go near them and they push to the fence in a tumbling mass. While feeding, the  quail will jam its head through gaps in an effort to get to my hand and then, peck the hand instead of the food!

They constantly yell all day, each has a different call and we can tell them by these. They are yelling now, I am half an hour late with their food and there will be hell to pay when I deliver it!

Here’s a short video showing the fun…

https://suburbable.tumblr.com/post/145886940255/i-though-quails-were-supposed-to-be-timid-little