What Is a Group of Quail Called?

Anita Ritenour/CC-BY-2.0

A group of quail is called a covey. A covey generally consists of 12 or more birds that walk or run along the ground together.

Quail prefer open ground and forage under shrubs for food. Quail are omnivorous but primarily eat seeds, grasses, flowers and fruit. The Gambel’s quail resides in the desert Southwest. The scaled quail, the California quail and the mountain quail prefer the woodlands and foothill forests of California and the Northwest. The Montezuma quail resides in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and central Mexico. The bobwhite quail resides primarily in the Northeast, and the partridge makes its home in the Southeast.