the wily quail mom

The lowly quail, an almost defenseless bird that makes good eating for many other species, has got to be wily, a new study suggests.

One of its techniques is to lay its eggs in places most likely to camouflage the markings specific to each bird's output.

Sitting at the bottom of the food chain, with a spot on just about every predator's dinner menu, quail and their eggs need good hiding places. In the experiment, quail could lay clutches in sand with white, yellow, red or black hues. Researchers photographed each spot where the quail laid eggs and each location they ignored.