Insects remain an important food item to adults and young throughout summer and into early fall. Chicks require a high-protein diet for rapid growth and for the development of flight feathers. This need is met by feeding almost exclusively on insects during the first two to three weeks after hatching. Fruits and berries, also called soft mast items, are eaten by adults during summer. Quail food items must be exposed on relatively bare soil and in open-structured vegetation.
Quail scratch poorly and are impeded by extremely dense vegetation.
Seeds buried beneath deep piles of leaf litter, regardless of their abundance, are unavailable to quail. Burn off this litter every two years. Food availability is also influenced by its distance from protective cover. Quail seldom move far from cover to feed. Small, relatively dense thickets provide refuge from predators.