King Quail

The king quail, also called the blue-breasted or Asian blue quail, is the smallest and lightest member of the pheasant and quail family: 12–15cm long, with a wingspan of about 25cm and a weight of 20–57g. Males are dark brown above with dark blue-grey flanks and neck and dark red-brown underparts, and the face is patterned with a black chin, a white band across the upper throat and black-and-white stripes below the eye. Females are plain rufous-brown with a paler belly (Wikipedia, general species account).

Its voice is a piping whistle of two or three notes, and flushed birds give sharp cheeps. It eats grass seeds and green vegetation along with some insects, especially termites. The nest is a grass-lined hollow on the ground holding 4–7 eggs, which hatch after 16–18 days. The wild breeding system is not known, though captive birds are reported to be monogamous. SoIB 2023 lists it as a wetland bird whose movements within India are uncertain, and gives no trend or priority for it (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).