Brown Quail

Brown quail. Photo by Peter Reese (Not in Mangaiti)

A brown quail was sighted around the pond on Tuesday 10th March with another two sightings over the next few weeks. These interesting little birds were introduced from Australia so they cannot be classified as native. They are common in Northland and classified as moderately common in the Waikato. They are not strong fliers and tend to have a rapid short flight when disturbed as this one did.

It would be good to have them establish themselves in the gully. They are ground nesters laying 7 – 12 eggs. Even if the rats and possums where taken out, the quail would still be vulnerable to hedgehog and domestic cat predation.