The Chinese painted quail are April’s Sea Star!

There are currently 29 quail living in the Butterfly House & Aquarium’s Conservatory. Many of the quail are named for horror movie villains, including Jason, Freddie, and Michael.

Chinese painted quail can lay at least one egg every day. Their plumage ranges from grey to blue to speckled, and all of these color variations can be seen in our quail population.

The quail like to be in a population with other birds, and tend to call out if they can’t see other members of their group. Males try to impress females with high quality food, holding it in their beaks for the females to take.

The birds enjoy mealworm enrichment. The males are very motivated to interact with their targets during training, so they can get the worms to impress females.

You can find the quail running around inside the fenced areas of the Conservatory.