A bobwhite is stout and chunky through the body, with a small head, short wings, and a short, rounded tail. Plumage is mostly chestnut brown, white, and black, with the brown graying toward the tail. The sides are streaked with orange-brown, and the underparts are white or creamy, barred lightly with black. Quail also savor the pulp of acorns and hickory nuts discarded by squirrels, woodpeckers and blue jays. Most food is found by scratching through litter covering the ground.
Bobwhites are social birds.
When roosting, bobwhites form a circle, their tails together and their heads pointing outward like spokes from a wheel hub. Group roosting helps each individual maintain body heat. If disturbed, the birds flush in all directions. In spring, males begin courtship display. They sing, bow low, elevate their fanned-out tails, spread their wings, puff out their body plumage, strut and fight.