Ostrich quail couple has offspring
Tierpark Chemnitz: Chicks can be seen in the tropical house
There are offspring in the tropical house at Chemnitz Zoo: a pair of ostrich quails living there have two chicks. As the cock and hen look after the young together, they can always be seen walking through the hall close to their parents. They are now picking their own food, just as their parents show them. Ostrich quails have a special feature: Unlike many other chicken birds, the adult ostrich quails hold the food in the tip of their beaks for the young birds during the first few days of their lives.
As is usual with pheasants - to which they belong - the sexes of ostrich quails also differ clearly in their plumage colouring. The females are not as strikingly coloured as the males. The young also initially have a rather inconspicuous plumage colouring, which helps to camouflage them. Later, the males acquire their striking reddish-brown crest.
Although the ostrich quail, which is native to South-East Asia, has a relatively large range, populations are declining as a result of the ongoing destruction of forests. As a result, the species has been categorised as potentially endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species since 2004 - the first of three endangerment categories. This makes the successful and coordinated breeding of such endangered species all the more important.
This species has been successfully kept and bred at Chemnitz Zoo for many years.
Opening hours of the zoo and wildlife park in March:
Daily: 9 am to 5 pm, last admission 4 pm