The role of nest‐site selection and cereal production in differential nest predation in Common Quail Coturnix coturnix and hybrid quail C. coturnix × C. japonica

Abstract

In Europe, farm‐reared quail used for restocking purposes are often hybrids between the Common Quail Coturnix coturnix and the Japanese Quail Coturnix japonica. These hybrids interbreed with wild Common Quail populations and suffer higher rates of nest predation, which would suggest that the two quail types have different nest‐site selection patterns. We monitored 103 radiotagged nesting females (77 wild Common Quail over 18 breeding seasons and 26 hybrid quail over six breeding seasons) and analysed their nest placement behaviour. Our results did not provide any evidence that the quail types showed different nest‐site selection trends, as they all preferred to nest near cereal field margins. The higher nest predation rate experienced by hybrids might therefore be explained by less effective anti‐predator behaviour among hybrid females during incubation. As no edge effect on nest predation was observed, the preference for nesting close to cereal margins could be due to the greater food resources of field margins. Moreover, Common Quail nest predation decreased with a rise in barley straw production, supporting evidence that nest cover plays an important role in the prevention of nest predation in this species. No such relationship was found for hybrid quail, but this result is not conclusive, as the data on barley straw production for hybrid quail covered a much smaller range of interannual variability. Barley straw production in Catalonia decreased significantly between 1992 and 2012, possibly as a result of a change in the barley varieties used. This practice could entail a conservation threat for ground‐nesting bird species.

Quantifying genetic distance between wild and captive strains of the grey partridge Perdix perdix in France: conservation implications

“…This difficulty to infer admixed genotypes to a predefined hybrid class can originate from either a weak genetic resolution of our microsatellite marker panel or a low frequency of hybrids in populations. A low frequency may result from the combination of a low survival of partridges released on the field (< 30% a few months after release, Bro et al 2016), a lower reproductive success of the released partridges (Buner et al 2011)-that could be due to a less effective antipredator behaviour (see Mayot et al 2012) as also observed in the quail (Capdevila et al 2016)-or from the rapid disappearance of the hybrid genetic signature as first back-crosses occur.…”

Habitat selection of the Common Quail (Coturnix coturnix) in an intensively managed agricultural environment

“…Although a number of studies have emphasized the higher probability of predation risk in field margins (e.g. Paton 1994, Batáry & Báldi 2004, Capdevila et al (2016) found no edge effect in Common Quail nest predation probability. Apart from grassy strips, previous studies in Europe emphasized the role of woody ecotones (e.g.…”

“…In our study, we found only slight effect of field margins. Capdevila et al (2016) found that female quails preferred to nest near field margins, which might be related to the greater food resources and more suitable nest cover. Although a number of studies have emphasized the higher probability of predation risk in field margins (e.g.…”

“…The dense herbaceous cover provides nesting site, more protection against rough weather conditions and predators (Rands 1986, Green & Stowe 1993, Eggers et al 2011. According to Capdevila et al (2016), plant height may also have importance because taller vegetation has better suitability for hiding nests from predators. This is also demonstrated by the fact that in the course of crop harvesting the Common Quail moves to new, more suitable habitats with taller vegetation, as demonstrated by Rodríguez-Teijeiro et al (2010) and Németh and Winkler (2017).…”

Research advances of Galliformes since 1990 and future prospects

“…Synthetic reviews suggested that high nest survival rate may be attributed to the extended breeding season (Jansen and Crowe 2005) and available supplemental food sources (Sandoval and Barrantes 2012). Meanwhile, the predation (Ellis-Felege et al 2013; Carpio et al 2014;Capdevila et al 2016;Lyly et al 2016), competition (Robel et al 2003;Hämäläinen et al 2012), extreme weather condition (Kobayashi and Nakamura 2013) and temperature effects (Xu et al 2008) were likely to be the principal causes of nest failure.…”