Description of a nest and clutch of the harlequin quail (Coturnix delegorguei delegorguei) in what is now Nairobi National Park, Kenya

On 15 July 1988, I found a nest of a species of quail, presumably Coturnix delegorguei (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=10957&subview=map&taxon_id=790), near the laundry-drying wire at the School for Field Studies camp at Wildlife Ranching and Research, on the Athi-Kapiti plains, Kenya.

This site is now within Nairobi National Park.

The nest was located in a patch of herbage that had been slashed by machete, to keep it short, 5-6 weeks previously. I infer that the nest had been established after the slashing, i.e. in the open.

The nest consisted of a shallow, loose cup, about 10 cm diameter, of dry, curly grass-blades. This was a very simple structure, positioned near ground level.

The embryos were half-developed at the time of discovery.

The eggs were whitish, with a spattering of fine olive speckles of various sizes and intensities (most smaller than a large 'fly spot'), in some cases amounting to vague scribblings. One side of each egg tended to be hardly spotted, and the other side dark enough to be described as 'speckled fawn'.

The masses of the eggs were: 6.7 g, 6.7 g, 6.5 g, 6.1 g, 6.4 g, 6.5 g, and 6.3 g. The dimensions were (maximum length X maximum width of each egg): 2.9 X 2.2 cm, 2.93 X 2.24 cm, 2.94 X 2.17 cm, 2.99 X 2.22 cm, 2.94 X 2.22 cm, 3.05 X 2.22 cm, and 2.925 X 2.19 cm.

Although I resided in a tent in this campsite for more than 3.5 years, I do not recall ever spotting the harlequin quail here, except in the form of this single nest.

Posted on May 22, 2024 02:18 AM by milewski