The Quail Family

We are lucky to have a covey of quail living in our neighborhood. They used our backyard as a nursery last summer - all the little baby quail running around were sight to see.

I strongly suspect it was a Mama Quail who pecked Otis in the head to protect her babies. It worked - Otis never went back outside until the Quail Family moved to the front yard.

Several times a day, the family returns to the backyard to eat. Keeping them in birdseed is becoming quite the chore - there are at least 20 members of this covey right now.

After filling the feeders, I noticed that the quail cannot get onto the swinging versions. Their body-types don't allow for the balance needed to sit there and eat. "I'll have to put some feed on the ground for them," I said to Dan, "I want them to get enough."

Dan looked at me strangely. I guess the fact that these quail appear ready to hibernate with plenty of "storage" had something to do with it. "They eat what the little birds knock over," he said.

A few days ago, when the weather was decent, Duke spent the afternoon lounging around the backyard. The quail got used to the littlest dachshund and came to feed once they ascertained that Duke's bird-hunting days were over.

Today they are roaming around out in front, looking for eats and trying to remember how they get into the backyard.