The harlequin quail is a small bird of the pheasant family. Males have a bright black-and-white head coloration, while females are modestly colored for protection from enemies.
The harlequin quail differs from other quails with a bright mask on the males' heads. It helps maintain balance in nature by eating seeds and insects and serving as food for snakes and predatory birds.
meadows, prairies, forb glades on land
Immature form that undergoes metamorphosis before adulthood.
pecking
Worker
birth time
Hot and almost no precipitation
Picking small food items from foliage, ground, or other surfaces.
Heavy rains in summer
Dogs, dolphins, lynx hang out for 9-25 years and party on their birthday three times a year
m
Map
will celebrate their {n} birthday
g
t
When your next jubilee falls in {name} life years
Human
hot Africa south of the desert, many savannas and forests
days
Warm summer
How old you would be if you lived as {name}
Theoretical maximum lifespan estimated from the Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) mathematical model. This value reflects a biological potential derived from metabolic parameters, not from direct observation — real recorded lifespans are often significantly shorter.
very heavy rains in summer, almost no precipitation in winter
beak
adult
Maturity
insects
About health
Warm or hot summer and rains
When your next birthday would fall if you lived as {name}
Repro interval
results
summer warm, winter not very cold
Colors
Sex
Upcoming jubilees
Gremllins
mo
hot, rains in summer, little precipitation in winter
rains are very rare, almost a desert
little precipitation in winter, more in summer
Trophic type
Filters
seeds of cereals and meadow grasses
summer very hot, dry, lots of grass
Upcoming birthdays
Breeding structure built or used for laying eggs and raising offspring.
Truly long lives: 40-100 years. Bowhead whales, albatrosses, giant tortoises recall their birthday at most once a year
Lifespan
Age (from birth to death)
Hot, little precipitation in winter
Wanderers
Food items are collected from exposed outer surfaces of substrates.
Jubilee = every 10th birthday
pecks from the soil surface
small invertebrates without further specification
Earliest developmental stage inside an egg or womb.
Business sausages
Lifespan average
What do they look like?
Maturity
emergence (insects)
end of lifespan
Wings color
How do they live?
fertilization / egg laying
How do they behave?
birth / hatching
metamorphosis / end of larval stage
end of acceleration
Share
Find a pet...
Mature, fully developed individual capable of reproduction.
hot, uneven rains, lots of grass and trees
gleaning
65 to 130 grams, 25 – 60 centimeters
Pets
Repeatedly strikes or probes substrate with beak to obtain food.
Hot steppe
Feeding occurs primarily on land or in vegetation.
{name} jubilee
cm
Old-timers
Find an animal or breed...
Wingspan
turns
Rascals
terrestrial grassland and steppe
terrestrial herbaceous
hot Africa south of the desert, many savannas and forests
Litter size
Tropical savanna
Map data sources: Ecosystem classification — IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (Keith et al., 2022), indicative distribution maps Keith et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3546513; Large Marine Ecosystems — NOAA LME Program; Bathymetry — GEBCO Bathymetric Compilation Group (2026), GEBCO_2026 Grid, https://doi.org/10.5285/4f68d5c7-45eb-f999-e063-7086abc036fa; Climate data — Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information; Species occurrence data — GBIF.org, Derived dataset "all animals", https://zveriki.com/dataset/dataset.tsv; Terrestrial ecoregions — RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017 (Dinerstein et al., 2017), CC BY 4.0
How to care for them?
Living from 25 to 40 years. Orangutans, bald eagles, African elephants celebrate their birthday twice a year
Body plumage color
°C
Not specified
Actively searching habitats to locate food items.
Where are they found?
Low precipitation in winter
Legendary longevity: over 100 years. Galapagos tortoises, Greenland sharks, ocean quahogs celebrate with family once every 4 years
Offspring
Elders
small invertebrates
Bro
Taxons
if born as {name}
Forages within or on the surface of soil or substrate.
omnivore
age
birth date
Close
Egg shell color
was
Career from 7 to 15 months. Dwarf hamsters, voles, field crickets celebrate their birthday twice a month
The basics
My weight?
Non-stop carnival: they only live a few days. Mayflies, rotifers, midges celebrate their birthday more than twice a day
surface
primary food sources
Beak size
Potential Habitat
lots of grass, few trees, rains are rare
d
In husbandry
On the go from 1.3 to 3.5 years. Forest mice, anoles, rainbow fish party on their birthday once a month
Mass
Mosquitoes, fruit flies, small crustaceans hustle for up to 7 months and throw a birthday party every week
terrestrial
{name} birthday
soil
Always hot
No results found
On the map
Pleasant summer
grass seeds
all life stages
Female ♀
Down feathers color
world of Afrotropics
Map data sources: Ecosystem classification — IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (Keith et al., 2022), indicative distribution maps Keith et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3546513; Large Marine Ecosystems — NOAA LME Program; Bathymetry — GEBCO Bathymetric Compilation Group (2026), GEBCO_2026 Grid, https://doi.org/10.5285/4f68d5c7-45eb-f999-e063-7086abc036fa; Climate data — Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information; Species occurrence data — GBIF.org, Derived dataset "all animals", https://zveriki.com/dataset/dataset.tsv; Terrestrial ecoregions — RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017 (Dinerstein et al., 2017), CC BY 4.0
Potential habitat modelled from GBIF occurrence data. Map © Zveriki.com, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
birth year
Maturity
lots of rain, summer from warm to very hot
steppe
terrestrial habitat, land surface outside water
sq mm
yr
Beak color
comfortable summer, +20…+25 °C
How similar?
Male ♂
until the celebration
baby / chick
age as {name}
How do they breed?
On the go from 3.5 to 6 years. Hedgehogs, crows, lizards treat themselves to birthday snacks 6 times a year
Legs color
What if eaten?
Very dry
Neither
from birth to adulthood
Young offspring still dependent on parental care.
nest
What do they eat?
Where do they live?
Immature individual that has not yet reached reproductive maturity.
early young
world of Afrotropics
Duration
live insects
This is me
Steppe
Gamers
How are they built?
mm
Theoretical lifespan
ml
Stars
Link copied
Head plumage color
My age?
wk
My size?
terrestrial
Asexual
swap
Rabbits, falcons, red-eared turtles hang out for 6-9 years and party on their birthday four times a year
Where do they take shelter?
celebrated their {n} birthday
open grassy spaces — steppes, savannas, prairies
When you would have been born if you lived as {name}
very hot all year round, frequent rains, but sometimes dry
Daddies
Lifespan maximum
very hot and almost no precipitation
foraging
Hermaphrodite ⚥
embryo
Carrot
Hard, projecting mouthpart used to probe, pluck, or crack food.
Length
kg
Observations
◉{N} more on tap