With the publication of Queenie Quail Can’t Keep Up coming up on March 2, 2019, let’s take a look at the adorable little birds who inspired and star in the book!
There are over forty different kinds of quails, living all across North America, Australia, Europe and Asia – these little birds are everywhere!
Queenie and her family are California quail (Callipepla californica), which can be found from the mildest, southernmost parts of British Columbia all the way down through southern California, and have been introduced to such far-flung places as Hawaii, Argentina and New Zealand. They are sociable, chatty birds who live in small family groups that include males, females and young. The grown ups tend to perch high up and watch over their brood, as Papa Quail does in Queenie Quail Can’t Keep Up, though even the best watchbird can’t always detect every sneaking threat, as these round, neatly flightless birds are a delicacy for many ground and air-based predators like cats and hawks.
Now, don’t tell Queenie this, but you can actually cook quail – there are countless recipes for roasting, frying and otherwise preparing this lean game bird. Personally I much prefer observing and reading about quails, rather than eating them, but to each their own, I suppose!
I can’t wait to introduce my favourite quails to you, coming March 2019! You can preorder your very own copy at all your favourite book retailers. Hurry, hurry, hurry!