Japanese Quail – A Bird of the Pheasant Family Essay Example

large farms for breeding them. These days, Egyptian might not be that widely spoken anymore but quail are still an important source of food for both the meat and eggs in a lot of countries.

Quail eggs are in fact arguably more nutritious weight for weight than chickens eggs but more on that later. Quail have features in other countries too. In the Far East records of quail go back as far as 770BC. It is thought that the Chinese quail is the ancestor of many of today’s breeds. Quail have been bred domestically for over 4,000 years. Unlike chickens, quail are very good at flying. In fact they are migratory birds. Most migrate by flying often traveling from as far as Africa to England. They have strong flying wings but like to glide when traveling long distances.

Other mountain quail migrate on foot from high to low altitude in small groups. Like chicken - the word quail has found its way into the English language. The term 'quail' means to 'shrink back in fear or cower’. This is not our experience of quail which normally fly directly upwards if scared. Quail production has shown increasing importance in Brazil because quails show early sexual maturity and have small body size, which results in lower necessity of housing space and feed.