STAAL J & K KOFFIJBERG (2008) A closer look at population dynamics of Common Quail Coturnix coturnix in the Netherlands. LIMOSA 81 (3): 98-101.

Population dynamics in Common Quail often show pronounced fluctuations (cf. Fig. 1) and are often characterised by influxes during the breeding season. Variation in crop types, harvest dates and rainfall are all assumed to trigger such ups and downs. So far, few studies have been carried out to studymovements at a larger scale. In June 2008, a Spanish-Dutch research teamtrapped Quail in two agricultural areas in the northern part of the Netherlands, as an extension of a larger project carried out in Morocco, Portugal, Spain and France in the past five years. This project aims to unravel the complex breeding strategy, movements, genetic and morphological structure of the population and the impact of hybridisation with introduced Japanese Quail Coturnix c. japonica. To compare characteristics of Mediterranean Quail with a population on the northwestern edge of the breeding distribution, 32 Quail were trapped between 16-18 June. Besides extensive biometrical measurements, feather and blood samples were taken for stableisotope and genetic analyses respectively. Most individuals (76%) turned out to be second-year birds, but this is still lower than observed in Mediterranean samples, which usually have about 90% second- year individuals. Due to the trapping method we only caught males. However, a larger sample of nocturnal catches along the Dutch North Sea coast also consists mainly of males (70%). It is hypothesised that the number of females declines with geographical latitude, since females stay behind to incubate and raise chicks, whilemalesmove further north after pairing to seek new territories. Recoveries in The Netherlands of Quail ringed in Italy (1) and Spain (2) reveal links between the Mediterranean and NW-European breeding areas. Movements within the breeding season are also suggested by our catches. One of the trapping sites of 16-18 June was visited again on 1 July, but only one of the 26 ringed birds was retrapped on the second visit. A second individual had been ringed 38 days earlier in Belgium. Studies in the Mediterranean point out that 95% of all males stay for maximum 15 days in one area. This suggests that a high turn-over of males occurs during the breeding season, but further work is necessary to quantify this. Hence, results from censuses of singing males do not reflect actual population size very accurately, also because singing activity is determined by pairing status and the (varying) number of females in an area.

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