Common Quail

Common Quail

Coturnix coturnix

Silhouette: Marie-Aimée ALLARD · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Keoladeo National Park

In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%

21 Verified sightings at Keoladeo National Park From 2019 to 2026
1,140 In all 42 parks
January Best month
☀️🌙 Day & Night When it's spotted

About the Common Quail

The common quail (Coturnix coturnix) or European quail is a small ground-nesting game bird in the pheasant family Phasianidae. It is mainly migratory, breeding in the Palearctic and wintering in Africa and southern India.

With its characteristic call of three repeated chirps (repeated three times in quick succession), this species of quail is more often heard than seen. It is widespread in Europe and North Africa, and is categorised by the IUCN as "least concern". It should not be confused with the Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica), native to Asia, which, although visually similar, has a call that is very distinct from that of the common quail. Like the Japanese quail, common quails are sometimes kept as poultry.

The common quail was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Tetrao coturnix. The specific epithet coturnix is the Latin word for the common quail. This species is now placed in the genus Coturnix that was introduced in 1764 by the French naturalist François Alexandre Pierre de Garsault. The common quail was formerly considered to be conspecific with the Japanese quail... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Alarm call0:05

France · 2026

Sonothèque ADVL · XC1175974 · CC0

Flight call0:12

Netherlands · 2026

© Joost van Bruggen · XC1148709 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Song1:20

Estonia · 2026

© Uku Paal · XC1142853 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Golden Gate Highlands National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~10%
2 De Hoop Nature Reserve 🇿🇦 South Africa
~10%
3 Kiskunság National Park 🇭🇺 Hungary
~10%
4 Cévennes National Park 🇫🇷 France
~10%
5 Fertő-Hanság National Park 🇭🇺 Hungary
~10%
6 Mercantour National Park 🇫🇷 France
~10%
7 Berenty Reserve 🇲🇬 Madagascar
~10%
8 Ecrins National Park 🇫🇷 France
~10%
9 Kidepo Valley National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~10%
10 Hortobágy National Park 🇭🇺 Hungary
~10%
11 Biebrza National Park 🇵🇱 Poland
<5%
12 West Coast National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
<5%
13 Royal Bardia National Park 🇳🇵 Nepal
<5%
14 Białowieża National Park 🇵🇱 Poland
<5%
15 Doñana National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
<5%
16 Addo Elephant National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
<5%
17 Tsavo East National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%
18 Tatra National Park 🇸🇰 Slovakia
<5%
19 Pyrénées National Park 🇫🇷 France
<5%
20 Monfragüe National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
<5%
21 Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
<5%
22 Virunga National Park 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo
<5%
23 Sierra de Guadarrama National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
<5%
24 Camargue 🇫🇷 France
<5%
25 Queen Elizabeth National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
<5%
26 Serengeti National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%
27 Keoladeo National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
28 Bavarian Forest National Park 🇩🇪 Germany
<5%
29 Ngorongoro Conservation Area 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%
30 Picos de Europa National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
<5%
31 Murchison Falls National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
<5%
32 Tarangire National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%
33 Chitwan National Park 🇳🇵 Nepal
<5%
34 Manas National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
35 Sierra Nevada National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
<5%
36 Chobe National Park 🇧🇼 Botswana
<5%
37 Moremi Game Reserve 🇧🇼 Botswana
<5%
38 Kaziranga National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
39 Kruger National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
<5%
40 iSimangaliso Wetland Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
<5%
41 Jim Corbett National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
42 Wadden Sea National Park 🇩🇪 Germany
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Almaty 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan
~10%
2 Tel Aviv 🇮🇱 Israel
<5%
3 Beirut 🇱🇧 Lebanon
<5%
4 Ramallah 🇵🇸 Palestine
<5%
5 Kathmandu 🇳🇵 Nepal
<5%
6 Istanbul 🇹🇷 Turkey
<5%
7 Berlin 🇩🇪 Germany
<5%
8 Barcelona 🇪🇸 Spain
<5%
9 Jerusalem 🇮🇱 Israel
<5%
10 Lisbon 🇵🇹 Portugal
<5%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Natura Artis Magistra 🇳🇱 Netherlands In captivity
2 Dresden Zoo 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
3 Muséum de Besançon 🇫🇷 France In captivity
4 Wildwald Voßwinkel 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
5 Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park 🇮🇳 India In captivity
6 Reserva de Flora y Fauna Dr. Rodolfo Tálice 🇺🇾 Uruguay In captivity
7 Tashkent Zoo 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan In captivity
8 Seville Zoo 🇪🇸 Spain In captivity
9 Paphos Zoo 🇨🇾 Cyprus In captivity
10 Kuala Lumpur Bird Park 🇲🇾 Malaysia In captivity
11 Budakeszi Game Preserve 🇭🇺 Hungary In captivity
12 Leningrad Zoo 🇷🇺 Russia In captivity
13 Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens 🇨🇳 China In captivity
14 Bird Park Steinen 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
15 Santillana Zoo 🇪🇸 Spain In captivity
16 Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory 🇨🇦 Canada In captivity
17 Granja los Pibes 🇦🇷 Argentina In captivity
18 Zoológico de Oruro 🇧🇴 Bolivia In captivity
19 Storchenstation 🇨🇭 Switzerland In captivity
20 Edward Youde Aviary 🇭🇰 Hong Kong SAR China In captivity
21 Ogród Zoologiczny w Katowicach 🇵🇱 Poland In captivity
22 Papilonia Brno 🇨🇿 Czechia In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Common Quail in Keoladeo National Park?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Common Quail sighting in Keoladeo National Park on a given day, based on 21 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 220th most-seen of the 278 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Common Quail in Keoladeo National Park?

Any time of year

In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Common Quail in Keoladeo National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.

What time of day is best to see a Common Quail?

Between 6 and 9 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Quail sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.

Where does the Common Quail sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Common Quail is recorded against all the birds logged in Keoladeo National Park (21 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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