Hawaii · UplandJapanese Quail (Coturnix)

Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica), per the Bishop Museum's Pyle & Pyle "Birds of the Hawaiian Islands" reference monograph, was established on all major islands by 1947 following scattered releases from 1921 onward (Maui and Lana'i in 1921; small numbers on Kaua'i in 1929-30 and O'ahu in 1930), plus likely unassisted colonization of Moloka'i and Hawai'i Island by this short-distance migrant. It is now a cryptic, locally distributed, and in several places declining species: Hawai'i Island holds by far the largest and most persistent population (an estimated 39,000 of a statewide 71,880 in 1947, though numbers appeared much lower by the early 2010s), while Moloka'i has had no reports at all since the early 1960s and O'ahu very few since the 1930s, both possible local extirpations rather than confirmed absences. Ni'ihau held a widespread population after a 1930s release, though by 1947 it was already restricted to grassy plateaus in the island's east-central portion;, it is not written as a region here since it carries no public access. This is a genuinely uneven, island-by-island pattern rather than a uniform statewide presence.