Quail feathers are highly valued in fly tying, primarily used to create soft-hackle collars on wet flies and to make legs and wing cases on nymphs. Due to their small size, quail feathers are typically used for very small flies, either throughout the body or just behind the head.
Quail are mid-sized birds classified in the order Galliformes. They fall into two families: Old World quail are part of the Phasianidae family, while New World quail belong to the Odontophoridae family. Buttonquails, which resemble quail, are classified under the Turnicidae family in the order Charadriiformes.
The king quail, an Old World quail, is often sold in the pet trade but is sometimes incorrectly called a “button quail.” Many quail species are farm-raised for their meat and eggs, and they are also hunted both on game farms and in the wild. In 2007, the United States produced 40 million quail.
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