What Is a Group of Quail Called?
Small, round, and always moving as one, quail have earned a whole handful of names for the tight groups they keep.
A group of quail is most commonly called a bevy, with covey, drift, and flush used as alternates. Quail (order Galliformes) are small, ground-loving birds that spend nearly all year in close-knit groups, bursting into a startling, whirring flight together the moment danger gets too close.
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What Is a Group of Quail Called?
Bevy and covey are the two terms you’ll actually hear used for quail, both describing the same thing: a close family group or small flock that feeds, roosts, and moves together for most of the year. Drift is an older, more literary alternative for the same loose, ground-hugging gathering. Flush is different, it’s not really about the group at rest but about the single, explosive moment an entire bevy bursts into the air at once when startled.
Where Did the Name Come From?
Bevy has one of the odder histories in the collective-noun canon: it entered English in the 15th century as a term for groups of ladies, roebucks, and quail alike, likely borrowed from an Old French word for a drinking party, bevee, before hunting writers of the Book of Saint Albans (1486) tradition settled it firmly on quail and other small game birds. Covey comes from the Old French covee, meaning “a brood” or “a sitting,” reflecting how quail chicks stay together with their parents well past hatching. Flush is the most self-explanatory of the four, a hunting term for the moment birds are startled up out of cover, still used exactly that way by bird hunters and birders today.
Quail Facts
- Tight-knit coveys: Quail spend most of the year in family groups of a dozen or more birds, roosting overnight in a tail-to-tail circle facing outward, a formation that shares warmth and gives the whole group a wide field of view against predators.
- Explosive flush: When threatened, an entire bevy can burst into flight within a fraction of a second, a loud, disorienting scatter of wingbeats and bodies designed to confuse a predator that can’t decide which single bird to chase.
- Ground nesters, precocial chicks: Quail build simple scrape nests hidden in vegetation and can lay 10 to 16 eggs in a single clutch. Chicks hatch covered in down and able to walk and feed themselves within hours.
- The California quail’s topknot: California’s state bird sports a forward-curving plume made of six overlapping feathers atop its head, worn by both males and females and used in courtship and alarm displays.
- Runners more than fliers: Quail strongly prefer running to flying, reserving short, fast, low bursts of flight for emergencies rather than as their main way of getting around.
Example Sentences
- A bevy of California quail scurried single-file across the trail, topknots bobbing with every step.
- The dog’s sudden lunge sent a covey of bobwhite quail into an explosive flush that startled every hiker on the path.
Other Names for a Group of Quail
Bevy and covey are used more or less interchangeably for quail in modern field guides and hunting writing, with covey slightly more common among birders describing family groups specifically. Drift shows up in older collective-noun lists but rarely in everyday use today. Flush stands apart from the others: it describes the action of a group scattering into flight rather than the group itself at rest, so you’ll hear “a flush of quail” used almost exclusively to describe that single startled moment.
🧠 Test Your Quail Knowledge
Three quick questions. See what stuck.
1. What’s the most common term for a group of quail?
2. What do quail do when startled as a group?
3. How do quail typically roost overnight?
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a group of quail called?
Most commonly a bevy or a covey, with drift used as a less common alternate. Flush describes the moment a group bursts into flight rather than the group itself.
What is the difference between a bevy and a flush of quail?
A bevy is the group of quail at rest, feeding or roosting together. A flush is the sudden, startled burst into flight that happens when the group is disturbed.
Why do quail roost in a circle?
Quail often roost overnight in a tight circle facing outward, which shares body heat and gives the group a wide combined field of view to spot approaching predators.
Can quail fly well?
Quail can fly, but they strongly prefer running and save flight for short, fast, explosive bursts when startled rather than for everyday travel.
What is the topknot on a California quail for?
The forward-curving plume, made of six overlapping feathers, is worn by both sexes and used in courtship and alarm displays.
How many eggs does a quail lay?
A single clutch can contain 10 to 16 eggs, and chicks are precocial, meaning they can walk and feed themselves within hours of hatching.
Small Birds, Tight Formation…
Whether you call it a bevy underfoot or a flush overhead, quail spend their lives proving that staying close together, right up until the moment they scatter all at once, is a survival strategy all its own.