Can common quail be shot?

Following a recent Sporting Answer related to releasing bobwhite quail (17 October), can you confirm the legality of releasing the common quail (Coturnix coturnix)? This is a European bird, which is common in the UK as an aviary bird, both for eggs and meat. I was at a walked-up shoot day in Scotland when some got up and flew well, but no one could say whether they were migrants or released. They were certainly wild and would have been challenging shooting, though on this day none were shot at. Are they considered game?

The common quail is an amberlisted bird, one of conservation

52 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE concern, though numbers are thought to have steadied and possibly to be increasing. We see them in Shropshire in good quail years, though they are amazingly secretive and extremely difficult to spot.

Releasing them is not against the law because they are regarded as native birds, but releasing a migratory bird that has been artificially reared and has no migratory instinct is morally wrong. It is doubtful that any of them would survive more than a few weeks, and almost certainly they wouldn’t last until the following spring and breed.

In answer to the second part of your question, they are classed as a game bird, but as they are not listed under Schedule 2 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, it is against the law to shoot them. LB

The common quail is an amber-listed bird, one of conservation concern, and it is against the law to shoot them