Breeding of the Stubble Quail, Coturnix pectoralis, in South-Eastern Australia

Abstract

The gonad cycle, breeding season, proportion of the population in primary moult and the relative amount of body fat were examined through the year in stubble quail at eight localities covering seven degrees of latitude and including several types of habitat and climate. There were significant effects of annual cycles and rainfall on each character at each location. In gonad size the seasonal cycle accounted for 39-71% of the variability in males and 21-41% in females according to locality. Effects of rainfall accounted for 5-18 % of the variability in males and 5-19% in females. There was a suggestion of a latitudinal trend in the date of the beginning of the annual gonad cycle. Breeding at all localities was in spring and early summer with a very frequent second peak of gonad size and breeding in late summer and autumn. The timing, the relative values of the spring and summer peaks and the success of the breeding varied from place to place and from year to year in the one locality. In some years breeding was continuous virtually throughout the year. Although in some regions the hunting season is appropriately timed, considering the biology of the birds, in others it is not as it overlaps the breeding season. There is a case for standardization in the south-eastern States to May-July.