MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
T. G. Scott, Editor 
Urbana, Illinois 
January I960 
Vol. 3, No. 1 
W-30-R-13 R. F. Labisky 
The introductions of Coturnix c. japonic a, the Japanese migratory quail, 
which were made on the Sibley area during 1957 and 1958 to determine whether the 
bird would become established in east-central Illinois, were unsuccessful. Groups 
of 500 quail were released on the Sibley area on April 29, 1957, September 5, 1957, 
and April 23, 1958. All the birds were raised at the State Game Farm, Mt. Vernon. 
The investigations of Coturnix were conducted coincidentally with studies of 
pheasants. 
Some of the quail which were released on April 29, 1957, nested on the 
Sibley area during the following summer, A total of six nests, one of which 
hatched, was found, and a single brood was located. The quail which remained in 
the area throughout the summer were never observed more than a mile from the release 
site. Although singles and pairs of Coturnix were frequently flushed near the 
release site until mid-September, it seems probable that many of the liberated quail 
dispersed from the area and probably from Illinois. No Coturnix wintered near the 
release site, and no migrants returned the following spring. Bands were recovered 
from only 17 of the 500 quail originally released, and these were recovered within 
the vicinity of the release. 
The 500 Coturnix released on September 5, 1957, dispersed rapidly. No 
Coturnix were observed near the release site during the following winter or spring. 
Not a single dead quail was found near the release site even though repeated 
searches of the area were made. Only two band recoveries were reported. One quail 
was found dead 11 miles east of Toledo, Ohio, on December 21, 1957; this quail 
traveled about 365 miles east-northeast after being released. The other band was 
recovered from a quail shot on December 8, 1957, near Dieterich, Illinois, about 
110 miles south of the release site. 
The 500 quail released on April 23, 1958, disappeared within a week. A total 
of 83 bands was recovered from birds found dead near the release site. The factors 
causing death of these birds were not evident, but it is very probable that the 
hatchery-reared quail were unable to adjust to the adverse weather which prevailed 
at the time of the release. Evidently those quail surviving the release dispersed 
from the area, but no additional band recoveries have been reported. 
