To my surprise, I’ve discovered that 130 different breeds of quail grace our beautiful earth. 

Where we live, near Cape Kennedy, close to the Indian River, the quails are Northern Bobwhites. I also learned that Bobwhites need the same habitat as Florida Scrub-Jays. While the Jays build their nests in low shrubs and bushes, the  Bob-Whites weave their nests on the ground. 

Quail are like human tribes that live together, work together, and travel together. Sometimes they sleep in a circle with their tails toward the middle of the ring. That reminds me of western movies that show wagon trains circle up for the same reason.

Years ago, we heard Bob-Whites calling out from the scrub habitat behind our house. We have not heard them for a long time, however, so we were glad to see a juvenile quail wander into the yard and start eating the seeds other birds had tossed to the ground from the feeder. Suddenly we saw a flurry of feathers and surmised the juvenile was in trouble. It got even worse when we saw a blurry show of feathers and figured the worried mother wanted to teach her offspring not to go off on his own.  

Our environmentalist son once told a story about quails where he and his wife take their morning walk. Its a place where there are few houses and many fields. One day they saw baby quails inside a field fence chirping and calling. Then they heard the two-note song of a mature quail. The small birds scurried off as fast as he could go. I doubt if those babies got into much trouble, though, they just wanted to be with their tribe. That was accomplished by staying in touch and honoring whoever was looking after them.