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Related: Culture Forums, Support Forums19 Quail Chicks Drinking on a Hot Day
Once upon a time, in the sun-drenched Catalina Foothills of Arizona, there was a little critter pond that sparkled like a gem under the brilliant blue sky. This pond was a magical place, where all the desert animals came to quench their thirst on hot days. One particularly sizzling summer afternoon, an extraordinary event occurred at the pond.
A proud family of Gambel's Quail arrived, led by two attentive parents. What made this day so special was the astonishing number of fluffy, adorable quail chicks that accompanied them. There weren't just a few, but a remarkable nineteen quail chicks, all lined up at the waters edge, ready to drink.
TommieMommy
(1,104 posts)Ptah
(33,492 posts)20 Gambel's Quail Chicks eat, drink, and move on. Lizard stops by and does some pushups, clims an ocotillo. Roadrunner comes through looking for a meal (chicks?). Mice clean up bird seed - looks like they are filling up their jowls. I think there are 20 chicks
TommieMommy
(1,104 posts)Every morning I put out birdseed and fresh water for all the little ones.😁
Easterncedar
(3,524 posts)Thanks for the brightness
How the momma quail moved to show the chick's how it's done.
Evolve Dammit
(18,624 posts)markie
(22,925 posts)quails are so fun... I live on "Quail Run Rd" and have never seen a quail here, so I went out and bought a few nice prints of quails to hang on the walls
wolfie001
(3,640 posts)StarryNite
(10,825 posts)It is quite remarkable to see that many survivors when they get to be that size. We see them with a bunch of tiny ones but over the following days the number dwindles down and soon there are just two or three babies left. The parents do their best but there is only so much they can do to protect their young. The dad's are the sentries often seen perched up on a fence or post watching for danger and calling to his family to warn them. They are just a most precious kind of bird.
Nittersing
(6,849 posts)My folks lived in Tucson for 10 years and every year they would appear under Mom's bird feeder. If you saw them on the first day or two (when they hardly look like birds at all) there were usually too many to count, but that number always went down very quickly.
I think they might be the cutest chicks ever.
StarryNite
(10,825 posts)But they are at the bottom of the food chain.
et tu
(1,883 posts)and you are too, for providing and filming!
geardaddy
(25,346 posts)I can imaging David Attenborough's narration in the voiceover.
jfz9580m
(15,488 posts)LittleGirl
(8,439 posts)I had a couple of nests of quail eggs. One was in my patio planter and I didn't see the mama sitting until I poured the water from the watering can on her. Scared the living daylights out of me. She left the nest daily so that's when I'd water the flowers. Those babies survived and were so much fun to watch for a couple of weeks until the parents took them out of the fenced yard. Then another nest popped up in the yard under the Tacoma Bells bush and a Gila monster found them. I watched as that thing swallow every last one of the 13 eggs. It was so full, it would barely walk afterwards. (I watched from a distance). Quails are so cool to watch and there is always a male and female watching over them every minute.
chowder66
(9,819 posts)Tiny fuzzy dinosaurs!!!!
planetc
(8,254 posts)As a contrast with the political news we drown in, they are excellent!
Kali
(55,739 posts)my friend in Globe has been seeing this double top knotted guy in her yard
Elessar Zappa
(15,896 posts)I had never seen one so big before.