A recent encounter with a family of Quail close to my house has encouraged my efforts to provide habitat for ground dwelling birds.
The Quail on my property have been here for at least as long as I have, over 3 years.
I usually flush them out of the Kangaroo grass when mowing and then give that area a wide berth. They also dust bath in the dry soil outside the backdoor, so occasionally I get a very quick glimpse of them. I think there are 5 of them, including young ones, although I can’t be sure because they are so timid and move very quickly.
A few weeks ago, when it rained constantly for a few days, they moved under a horse rug that was sitting on the ground. Late one afternoon my dogs scared them, and they scattered. After locking the dogs away, I went back to see where they were. One was still there, and I was very surprised to watch it fly away. It flew over the house and I lost sight of it. I didn’t know they could fly so well.
My garden is messy and overgrown. But it’s the habitat in the paddocks that I think the Quail and other birds like. There is long grass and short grass where I mow. The native trees have smaller shrubs growing underneath and some are covered in vines where the smaller birds have places to hide. I’m planning on connecting the tree islands to each other with some shrubs which will make moving around safer for the birds and small mammals. I do hope the Quail will keep coming close to the house as I enjoy seeing them, even if it’s only for a few second at a time.
Michelle Newall
Brown Quail – JJ Harrison (https://www.jjharrison.com.au/), Coturnix ypsilophora – Sydney Olympic Park, CC BY-SA 4.0
Painted Buttonquail Patrick_K59, Turnix varius -Victoria, Australia-8, CC BY 2.0
