Maternal presence influences vocal development in the Japanese quail ( Coturnix c. japonica )

Establishment of Wild-Derived Strains of Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica) in Field and Laboratory Experiments

Domestic quail are used as both farm and laboratory animals. As the wild ancestor of quails is "endangered," field studies are needed to conserve them. If wild-derived strains of quail are established, they will be unique genetic resources for both farm and laboratory animals. The purpose of the present study was to conduct a field study and create wild-derived quail strains using the breeding stocks in Tokachi, Hokkaido, Japan. Field observations from 2019 to 2022 indicate that wild quails migrate and stay at reproductive sites from late April to late October. Our estimations of the approximate ages of the observed and captured quails imply that adult males have intermittent reproductive opportunities from May to August. Morphological traits collected from adult and juvenile quails in the 2019-2022 population were similar to those previously reported for Japan's 1914 and 1970 populations. Using natural mating of captured wild males and domestic (Dom) females, we established the W50 and W75 strains, which possessed 50% and 75% genetic contributions from the wild stocks. These unique genetic resources can be applied for future conservation and experimental use to understand the domestication history and genetic basis of quantitative traits.

Individuality in houbara chick calls and its dynamics throughout ontogeny

In many taxa, breeding success depends heavily on reliable vocal recognition between parents and offspring. Although the acoustic basis of this recognition has been explored in several species, few studies have examined the evolution of acoustic cues to identity across development. Here, in a captive breeding program, we investigated for the first time the acoustic signals produced by North African houbara bustard Chlamydotis undulata undulata chicks. Two call types (contact and distress) were recorded from 15 chicks in 4 age classes. Acoustic analyses showed that the acoustic parameters of the calls varied systematically with age in both contact and distress calls. However, both call types remained highly stereotyped and individualized between chicks at every tested age, indicating that calls encode reliable information about individual identity throughout development, thus potentially enabling the mother to distinguish her own chicks through their development up to fledging. Playback experiments are now needed to verify such parent-chick recognition in houbara bustards and its efficiency across chick ontogeny.