Great Snoring Quail

This is the rare Great Snoring Quail (Coturnix Magna Stertentis Socci Induci).  The species is somewhat larger than the Common Quail leading to its classification as 'Great'.  Whilst seldom seen, the bird can easily be tracked down at night due to its habit of snoring loudly whilst asleep. Unfortunately, this makes them vulnerable to night time predators who are easily able to find them simply by following the snoring noises.  Being asleep at the time, the quail puts up no resistance so the species is now considered endangered and in need of protection.

Conservation efforts are concentrated on preventing snoring in the birds which, it is hoped, will prevent predators from finding them.  Successful so far has been the fitting of remotely controlled inflatable airbags to one side of the birds to force them to sleep on their side.  These can be deflated through the day when the Quail are feeding so they do not cause discomfort.  Experiments have also been made with the fitting of nasal dilator strips to keep their airways open, but due to the hardness of the beak they have been shown to have little effect.  Scientists also tried fitting nicotine patches to the Quail but this was discontinued once it was realised that the smoked flavour of the eggs was caused after the eggs had been collected and cooked and the Quails were not, in fact, smokers themselves.