Common Quail (Coturnix coturnix) - BirdLife species factsheet

Common Quail Coturnix coturnix

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

Taxonomic source(s)
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of_the_WP15.xls.
Cramp, S. and Simmons, K.E.L. (eds). 1977-1994. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2018	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Species attributes

Migratory status	full migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

Range

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	87,900,000 km²	medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	64,600,000 km²	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

Population

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	15000000-35000000 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2012
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	-
Generation length	2.8 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The European population is estimated at 3,320,000-6,720,000 calling or lekking males, which equates to 6,630,000-13,400,000 mature individuals (BirdLife International 2015). Europe forms approximately 40% of the global range, so a very preliminary estimate of the global population size is 16,575,000-33,500,000 mature individuals, although further validation of this estimate is needed. The population is therefore placed in the band 15,000,000-35,000,000 mature individuals.

Trend justification: This species is declining owing to netting of migrating birds. Local declines may be caused by changing agricultural practices, especially increased use of pesticides (del Hoyo et al. 1994). In Europe the population size is estimated to be fluctuating (BirdLife International 2015).

Country/territory distribution

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Afghanistan	extant	native		yes
Albania	extant	native	yes
Algeria	extant	native
Andorra	extant	native		yes
Angola	extant	native
Armenia	extant	native		yes
Austria	extant	native		yes
Azerbaijan	extant	native	yes			yes
Bahrain	extant	native				yes
Bangladesh	extant	native		yes
Belarus	extant	native		yes
Belgium	extant	native		yes
Benin	extant	native
Bhutan	extant	native		yes
Bosnia and Herzegovina	extant	native		yes
Botswana	extant	vagrant
Bulgaria	extant	native	yes			yes
Burkina Faso	extant	native
Cameroon	extant	vagrant
Cape Verde	extant	native
Chad	extant	native
China (mainland)	extant	native		yes
Comoros	extant	native
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the	extant	native
Côte d'Ivoire	extant	native
Croatia	extant	native		yes
Cyprus	extant	native	yes
Czechia	extant	native		yes
Denmark	extant	native		yes		yes
Djibouti	extant	native
Egypt	extant	native
Eritrea	extant	native
Estonia	extant	native		yes
Eswatini	extant	native
Ethiopia	extant	native
Faroe Islands (to Denmark)	extant	native		yes
Finland	extant	native		yes
France	extant	native		yes
Gambia	extant	native
Georgia	extant	native		yes		yes
Germany	extant	native		yes
Ghana	extant	native
Gibraltar (to UK)	extant	native		yes
Greece	extant	native	yes			yes
Guinea	extant	native
Guinea-Bissau	extant	native
Hungary	extant	native	yes
India	extant	native		yes
Iran, Islamic Republic of	extant	native	yes			yes
Iraq	extant	native		yes		yes
Ireland	extant	native		yes
Israel	extant	native
Italy	extant	native		yes		yes
Jordan	extant	native				yes
Kazakhstan	extant	native		yes
Kenya	extant	native
Kuwait	extant	native		yes		yes
Kyrgyzstan	extant	native		yes
Latvia	extant	native		yes
Lebanon	extant	native	yes			yes
Lesotho	extant	native
Liberia	extant	native
Libya	extant	native
Liechtenstein	extant	native		yes
Lithuania	extant	native		yes
Luxembourg	extant	native		yes
Madagascar	extant	native
Malawi	extant	native
Mali	extant	native
Malta	extant	native		yes
Mauritania	extant	native
Mauritius	extant	introduced
Mayotte (to France)	extant	native
Moldova	extant	native		yes
Mongolia	extant	native		yes
Montenegro	extant	native		yes
Morocco	extant	native
Mozambique	extant	native
Myanmar	extant	native
Namibia	extant	native
Nepal	extant	native
Netherlands	extant	native		yes
Niger	extant	native
Nigeria	extant	native
North Macedonia	extant	native		yes
Norway	extant	native		yes
Oman	extant	native			yes	yes
Pakistan	extant	native		yes
Palestine	extant	native				yes
Poland	extant	native		yes
Portugal	extant	native	yes
Qatar	extant	native				yes
Réunion (to France)	extant	introduced
Romania	extant	native		yes
Russia	extant	native	yes
Russia (Asian)	extant	native		yes
Russia (Central Asian)	extant	native		yes
Russia (European)	extant	native		yes		yes
Rwanda	extant	native
Saudi Arabia	extant	native		yes		yes
Senegal	extant	native
Serbia	extant	native		yes
Seychelles	extant	vagrant
Sierra Leone	extant	native
Slovakia	extant	native	yes
Slovenia	extant	native		yes
Somalia	extant	vagrant
South Africa	extant	native
South Sudan	extant	native			yes
Spain	extant	native	yes
Sri Lanka	extant	vagrant			yes
Sudan	extant	native
Sweden	extant	native		yes
Switzerland	extant	native		yes
Syria	extant	native	yes			yes
Tajikistan	extant	native		yes
Tanzania	extant	native
Togo	extant	native
Tunisia	extant	native
Türkiye	extant	native		yes
Turkmenistan	extant	native		yes
Uganda	extant	native
Ukraine	extant	native	yes
United Arab Emirates	extant	native			yes	yes
United Kingdom	extant	native		yes
Uzbekistan	extant	native		yes
Western Sahara	extant	native		yes
Yemen	extant	native			yes	yes
Zambia	extant	native
Zimbabwe	extant	native

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Bulgaria	Palakaria
Bulgaria	Ponor
Bulgaria	Rayanovtsi
Bulgaria	Western Balkan
Bulgaria	Zlatiata
Germany	Hellwegbörde
Germany	Medebacher Bucht
Germany	Rhön Biosphere Reserve
Russia (European)	Bryansko-Zhizdrinskoye woodland
Russia (European)	Flood-plain of Algashka river (Kirsko-Algashinskaya)
Russia (European)	Insaro-Kovylkinski
Ukraine	Chonovyny marsh
Ukraine	Latorytsya river valley near Chop
Ukraine	Psel river valley (Sary village)
Ukraine	Samars'kyj forest

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Pastureland	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Pastureland	suitable	breeding
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	non-breeding
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	breeding
Grassland	Temperate	suitable	non-breeding
Grassland	Temperate	suitable	breeding
Altitude	0 - 1000 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Utilisation

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence, national
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international
Sport hunting/specimen collecting	subsistence, national

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Common Quail Coturnix coturnix. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/common-quail-coturnix-coturnix on 22/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 22/11/2024.