The newest butterfly house arrivals are generating a lot of buzz, but it’s not a new species of moth or butterfly. Last Friday, we welcomed the first vertebrates to our collection (unless you count the staff) and released six young button quail into the butterfly house. While the young birds offer some unique learning opportunities, they’re not just there to look cute (although they’re pretty good at that). These birds have a job to do and will help us maintain pests in the butterfly house by eating any ants and spiders that have taken up residence.
Button quail (not to be confused with the distantly related “buttonquail,” a family of birds in the order Charadriiformes, the shorebirds) are the smallest species of true quail, with adults maxing out at a whopping 1.5 ounces. The chicks hatch from eggs that weigh about as much as a pencil and are roughly the size of bumblebees. As prolific layers, a female button quail may hatch a clutch of up to 20 eggs; and that’s a lot of bumblebee-sized chicks to have running underfoot, so luckily, all our quails are female.
Button quail are old-world quail, hailing originally from southern China, Southeast Asia to Oceania, and south to southeastern Australia, where it is listed as threatened by the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act (1988). They belong to the family Phasianidae, the same as chickens, turkeys, peafowl, and pheasants. As such, they are terrestrial birds with poor flight capabilities but sturdy, toughened feet for life on the ground. It might seem odd to keep an insectivorous bird in a greenhouse filled with butterflies, but since they are ground-dwelling, our butterflies are not at risk of being preyed upon. Ants and spiders, however, are out of luck.
It’s not uncommon for butterfly houses to employ birds to help maintain invertebrate pests. Many across North America have their own flock of quail, and at least one that includes other species of butterfly-friendly birds like American flamingoes and a variety of finches (that particular nature center is the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory, whose live webcam is a favorite amongst the staff here at MBHI). Come by and say hi to our newest additions, but keep in mind they are very shy and just like our incredible array of plants and butterflies, are for admiring with eyes only.