Beacon Quail
The Beacon Quail is a land based species of bird with limited flight capabilities related to the California Quail.
Description
The beacon quail is more of a round bird with a length of about 11 inches and wing span of around 12-15. The head is mostly black with white stripes framing the face and a short little beak. Sprouting from its forehead is a dark crest that hangs forward ending in a rounded shape. The end of the crest can be seen glowing with a phosphorescent hue that varies in color. The breast of the bird is tannish in color changing to white below with short brown legs. The wings are shorter and rounded, not lending to extended flying and are colored brown with the tips usually being a muted green to help with camouflage, the same going for the short tail feathers.
Habitat, Diet, Behavior
This species of bird, while capable of some flight, is actually a ground bird that prefers running around. When it does fly it's usually in brief, explosive bursts often used to escape a carnivorous predator. As such the quail will often build nests on the ground in the hollows of trees, rocks, and the like. These birds usually keep more inland and away from the beaches and rocky ocean cliffs. Unlike their off island cousins, the beacon quail are almost primarily insectivores but will also supplement their diet with seeds and plant stock at times. Such insects usually include the garden hopper, gardener ant, and painted beetle but basically any insect is fair game. The quail will hunt by running, but also by its unique crest. The crest on the birds is made up of fibrous feathers that it can cause to illuminate, though the quail's crest can glow in a variety of colors. Research leads people to believe that the levels of elemental energies in the area where the eggs are impacts the color of light the crest will produce. Even with quail from the same hatch their crest light might be different due to the influx of elemental energies crisscrossing and overlaying the island. They use the glowing crest to lure insects within easier range to eat though the bird can also hunt by running after its prey. They'll also on occasion be known to launch into a quick burst of flight after luring in flying insects. This generally results in a rapid flapping of the wings followed by a short glide back to the ground. This of course is how the quail got its name, due to the beacon it can create with its crest. The quail aren't really social creatures, except when it comes to mating as they're a monogamous bird. Beyond that they tend to keep to themselves and even newly hatched quail leave the nest within the first few days.
Their most common predators are the artisan wolf, petite thylacine, Yuriban fox, spotted kit fox, and maned hawk to just highlight a few. While the noble sea-eagle and mast cat are known predators it's really rare due to their habitats being closer to the ocean and thus not in the typical area of the beacon quail.
Island Inhabitants
Due to the glowing beacon on their heads the quail have become somewhat of a plaything for the children on the island. Many kids like challenging each other when they spot one of these birds to chase it and try and capture it. Thankfully said children are usually not faster than the predators the birds have to avoid and so they rarely get caught, even when it does happen the children will typically let them go. Some of the natives actually like using captured beacon quail as hunting training for their young when they're first learning. This has though lead the birds to associate children as a kind of predator to be avoided, a similar reaction that some domesticated cats and dogs have to children where they're skittish and tend to hide but are otherwise normal around adults.