Lessons from the California Quail

If you could be eaten by snakes, raccoons, opossums, skunks, armadillos, rats, weasels, sqiurrels, foxes, coyotes, bobcats, dogs, cats, hogs, turkeys, crows, jays, hawks, owls, ants, and people you'd move fast too--up to 12 miles per hour on land, 58 miles per hour in the air (quick, short explosions).

. . . but California Quail 

• stick together (for safety).
• lay eggs in others' nests (a female can lay more than two dozen eggs)
• come together in a covey after their families are formed
• roost in a circular formation so all birds can see approaching danger
• care for all the young in the covey (adults who do this live longer)
• alternate calls (male and female) creating a tightly orchestrated pattern.