Obviously, it is confusing to see how drank ends up being a grouping of quarries. Through Oxford dictionary, one could see that Bevy means drinking party, and thus could apply to the Quails, since they usually drink as groups.
A group of quail is called either a group, a pack, or a bevy. This is because they are game birds, and these terms refer to animals such as quail, pheasant, and ptarmigans. Other strange plurals exist as well. However, it is also permissible to refer to a group of quail as quails.
In English, drift is the term given to things being carried along slowly in the air or in the water. As the quails fly around together, it seems they are being carried upwards in the air, a drift. Perhaps, the name drift was used to signify this kind of association between the quail party and a drift.
When quails migrate, they typically form small groups, about 10 to 30 birds, and generally fly in these smaller groups. The California Quail is one such social quail, which gathers in small groups of about 10 to 30 birds. Quails spend much of their lives in relatively small areas, and groups of eight to 25 birds are common within a single flock. Quails are generally near dense vegetation, such as low-growing brush and brambles, which they use to evade predators.
Descriptions of the Common Quail
Quails are generally plump birds, fairly poor flyers, and spend nearly all of their time on the ground. They have a strong incentive to be stealthy, in order to avoid drawing attention from predators. Gambel’s quail are arguably not any less vulnerable (or delicious) than the other species, and yet Gambel’s quail act in ways that draw attention to themselves. Gambels Quail are far more likely to be seen walking on land, typically in single files, with an adult male leading a group of families, followed by the juveniles and the adult females in the back.
Once in a location, the Quails tend to dominate the feed, driving other birds from the food, including larger birds such as doves and pigeons. In winter, when birds are ready for mating, they form a flock, called the quary group.
In colder winter months, multiple families can come together and form a much larger flock (forty or more birds), whereas during the spring and summer nesting months, Gambels quail stay in individual family units. Another common quail, the Japanese quail, spends most of the year with a different mate from the common quail, and forms sociable rookeries of about twenty birds. There are about 20 different species of quail found worldwide, with 70 domesticated quails kept as backyard birds.
There are six native species of quail found in North America, all benefiting from the work of Quail Forever. Old-world quails are placed within the Phasianidae, while new-world quails are placed within the Odontophoridae.
Why People Adore the Quail
Quails are also kept as poultry or as commercial birds in certain parts of the world, due to the Quail meat and its brilliant eggs. Basically, quails are not solitary birds, they also spend time in pairs, like many other birds. It seems many species of quail are socially flexible, they can spend their time either individually or in small groups.
While many species of quail will congregate at certain times of year, they do need their own private spaces as well, particularly during breeding. Gambels quaries, for instance, are fairly social during summer and spring, gathering in large groups for feeding at dawn and dusk. Jungle Quails are another example of quail that are quite social, spending most of their days in groups of between 10 and 25 birds.
At dusk, groups of Jungle Quails break up and head in their own individual directions, then regroup for the following day. Males shout noisily from perches at low altitudes; families groups march through flatlands; and shoals of two dozen or more scurry out, cackling openly.
Groups of 30 or so quacks may go without much trouble, but that really depends on how skilled the keepers are, and on the species and temperament of the birds. Anyone can raise chickens and quails on the same property without problems, provided that they are not kept in the same enclosure. During breeding season, bobwhites may congregate into large flocks of several hundred — they are one of the few species of quail that are polygamous and polyandrous.
The Physiology of the Quail
Due to the quails large body size and their fragile eggs, they have a variety of predators, which are; snakes, raccoons, foxes, squirrels, coyotes, skunks, hawks, dogs, cats, owls, rats, and weasels. Quails make sounds known popularly as wet-my-lips, which they repeat throughout the night, and which can be heard at a distance, making it hard to detect.
Quails are land birds with short, circular wings, thick legs with four toes (the rear toes are elevated and not in contact with the ground) and short, conical bills. The Mexican tree quail, or a grouse (Dendrortyx macroura), is a 33 cm (13 in) long bird with a body size that is nearly that of a grouse. In Tasmania, the brown quail is called a swamp quail, and it is generally larger and darker in color than mainland birds, with a pale yellowish-brown squint. There are a few misnomer terms used for birds, like mini, Oats, Picasso, etc. A cluster of young Quails is called a clutch, brood, clutch, and clutch.
Quails can arrive individually, in pairs, or small family groups, to peck on blocks and discs any time during the day when they require food. If you place the food for quails hours before they actually arrive, or at different times every day, it is very possible that the other birds may eat all of it, leaving nothing for the quails.
