Can a Quail Fly?

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“If I let it go in the garden like a chicken, it flew away”

Instead of flying in the sky, it’s more like flying a few feet off the ground while randomly changing direction. It is similar to a pheasant or a hen flying with its wings, but the quail seems lighter than them, probably because it is small.

This is the comment of a quail owner who seems to be very active, among many people, there is the belief that quails can fly, the main reason for this is because they obviously have wings, in addition to the fact that because of their small size compared to other domestic birds, the task of flying in relation to gravity could be less complicated.

Apart from this, quails are recognized as migratory birds in nature, able to travel great distances each year, this fact is one of the arguments for people who claim that quails can really fly.

Quails belong to the classification of birds Phasianidae Phasianidae Coturnix.

And the birds that belong to the order Phasianidae and Phasianidae It is said that no species has lost its power of flight except those that have been domesticated. So quails can fly, but not over long distances like other birds.

Birds of the order Phasianidae and Phasianidae can fly, but their low flying ability allows them to fly only very short distances. It may not be possible to fly long distances like birds such as sparrows and crows.

It is the same as quails cannot fly long distances. Most of their time is spent on the ground.

Some precautions to take with quails and their attempted flight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMLzkbGnNXQ&ab_channel=inspirationfromkids

Quails cannot fly great distances, but sometimes, they will try suddenly to fly, managing to move through the air in an erratic way some meters, short distance.

There is a possibility that if you have quail in your garden and the side walls are very low, the quail will fly them, so it is advisable to keep them in cages with enough space and height so that they do not escape.

You must also take into account the height of the roof of the cage, the quail usually jump inside the cage, could fatally hit the head, Therefore, when reared in a cage, it is a good idea to place a soft cushioning material.

Injuries from flying quail in the aviary

Quails are pure inhabitants of the land and usually always stay on the ground. If the quail is frightened or if it feels danger, it is startled and takes off directly into the air. The flight is erratic and it seems that the landing site was chosen by chance.

Therefore, a quail aviary should be closed at the top. This is because even though the quails are very tame and the aviary is in a quiet environment, at some point the quail will be frightened. Whether it is when a cat wanders in the aviary or when a loud noise is heard in the environment. The quail will be startled and fly out of the aviary if it is not closed at the top.

A fully enclosed quail aviary also protects quail from predators such as rats, foxes, and so on.

No matter how careful you are when entering the quail aviary, it happens over and over again that a quail gets scared and tries to fly. Unfortunately, the flight usually ends very abruptly on the roof or a wall of the aviary.

It is not uncommon for injuries such as bloody heads and wings to occur to the quail as a result. These wounds usually heal quickly and without any action. However, sometimes serious injuries also occur. In addition to broken bones in the wings and legs, there are also broken necks.

Therefore, when planning and building the quail aviary, steps can be taken to protect the quail from injury.

Some tips for dealing with these injuries:

If you cover the aviary with wire mesh, you should loosen the cover a little. Especially the fence on the ceiling of the aviary is allowed to sag a little so that the quails are slowed down a little more gently.
If the quail aviary has a solid roof, a protective level can be attached 20 to 30 centimeters under the roof. For this purpose, a surface made of cloth or another soft material is stretched at this height, which gently brakes the quail.

How can the quail be a migratory bird if it cannot fly?

Like all the hens, quails are flightless birds. It is true that they are capable of fluttering a few meters, but otherwise, they are terrestrial animals. Despite this, they are migratory birds, which every year undertake a long journey from the African savannas to the cereal fields of Europe, where they nest and are prey to small game enthusiasts.

Knowing how they achieve such a prodigy has been and is a cause of amazement for specialists and nature lovers. No wonder, for it is not a matter of a few kilometers; we are talking about hundreds of kilometers that quails travel every other year.

But it is not only that which produces admiration. The question that arises to any curious person is obvious: how do quails manage to cross large extensions of the sea? waters shook by strong currents and hurricane winds.

And precisely there lies the key to the matter, for quail are capable of making a virtue of necessity and using winds and currents in their favor.

When they consider that conditions are favorable, they throw themselves into the sea without fear, because quails -despite the bad reputation of the whole chicken- are very brave animals. They raise one of their wings to the wind of the strait, as a sail, and use the other as a submarine rudder.

They follow the current, until they reach other beaches where they take a well-deserved rest in the sun while they dry their feathers. From there, they walk unhurriedly: through the fields where shotguns lurk, risking their lives by crossing highways and high-speed railway lines.

Until, finally, the quails find a place to lay their eggs. Truly, these birds are brave beings; brave and intelligent.