The king quail (Coturnix chinensis), also known as blue-breasted quail, belong to the pheasant family Phasianidae. The king quails are distributed in India, Sri Lanka, China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Philippines, australia and New Guinea. They are presently included into genus Synoicus. There are ten recognized subspecies of these birds.
The subspecies are: S. c. chinensis, S. c. trinkutensis, S. c. palmeri, S. c. lineatus, S. c. lineatulus, S. c. novaeguineae, S. c. papuensis, S. c. lepidus, S. c. colletti and S. c. victoriae.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) had categorized and evaluated these pheasant species and had listed them as of 'Least Concern'.
These quails are small game birds, measuring 12 to 15 cm in length and weighing 20 to 60 grams. Male birds are colorful and come in several colors. They have orange feet. They inhabit swampy grassland, shrub jungle, swamp edges and paddyfields.
They feed on grass, seeds, grains, cereals and insects. They breed after the rainy season and a clutch may contain up to eight eggs.
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| Indian bird - King quail - Coturnix chinensis |
| Biological classification of Coturnix chinensis | |
|---|---|
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Galliformes |
| Family: | Phasianidae |
| Subfamily: | Perdicinae |
| Genus: | Coturnix |
| Species: | C. chinensis |
| Binomial name: | Coturnix chinensis |
| Distribution: | southeastern Asia to Oceania; common in aviculture worldwide; |
| Feeding habits: | seeds, insects; |
| IUCN status listing: | Least Concern |
Image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Excalfactoria_chinensis_(aka).jpg
Author: André Karwath aka | License: CC BY-SA 2.5
Current topic: King quail - Coturnix chinensis.