Quill quails are a large varied group of birds most species of which are fully flightless and the rest almost fully so. Confined to the Origin continent, they can be found across most of it, being quite adaptable. However they're more concentrated to the more temperate North in the grasslands and forests, and are comparatively rare in more arid regions of the continent, likely due to their need for vegetative ground cover. Being flightless, they're more speciated by geographical location and habitat than flighted cousins.

They are characterised by long spiny feather quills. In most species these feather quills offer varying levels of protection or deterrent from physical attack, and their high contrast feather displays forewarn of this to other animals. At the extreme end, some species have quills with micro barbs that snap backwards on penetration of flesh, so that on removal they rasp at flesh and do more damage, or remain stuck. And because they detach from the bird when the right stress is applied, the bird remains safe. Some species on the other extreme have quills that are fully naked and just cause painful stinger pokes but remain attached to the bird. Sometimes quills will harbour bacteria that, on contact with raw, open flesh, begin feeding and producing volatile irritating wastes that cause long-term damage and the kind of emotional trauma that alters the behaviour of the predator in future.

Something much less obvious in some species until they get moving (though it's not universal of all quill quails, lacking in the most basal branches) is their unusual running posture and musculoskeletal structure of the shoulders and upper spine that allows for a high range of rotation of the shoulder joints. They run with their wings extended backwards, using their wings as rudders or as a counterbalance.

If a mother is cornered with her chicks huddling beneath her for protection, some predators may be unnerved with a large feather display. The movements and high contrast feathers are a warning. If the predator pursues head on the bird can pivot 180 degrees on one foot to deliver the spiny quills - which detach under enough emotional stress on the bird and mechanical stress on the quills. This pivot is lightning fast as it has been under heavy selective pressure to get faster and faster. Success can determine survival.

Any adult or even older juvenile individual can defend themselves in this manner. In a lack of time wing slaps can also sometimes be enough to send off some predators. Such slaps can send long trailing spiny quills pointing their way, which can be enough of a nope-out especially for more experienced individuals. Inexperienced individuals might soon learn why.

While females can carry out a display, they distinguish male and female by the different colours, which are more varied and vivid in males. Females use more nuanced colours and more contrast. While female sexual selection weighs more heavily on males, male sexual selection applied to females does exist.

The quills can also protect an adult bird when in full sprint from a pursuer, as the pursuer, from behind, will only have access to the dangerous end where the quills point backwards from. This can throw off the predator's game and increase the probability of escape for the quill quail. Chicks lack sharp, rigid quills, though they have soft, hair-like versions of the same thing.

Chicks are cared for more by the mother in general than the father, as the father might be devoting some energy and time to other female's chicks that are his also. But the father has strong care instincts. Both parents sit on eggs, talk to chicks, keep them warm when hatched, lead them and feed them.

Chicks can survive missing one and sometimes even both parents, past the first week or so of growth and coordination acquisition. But their odds of survival grow the older they become before gaining independence, as learning by trial and error in the wild usually leads to death. Sometimes mothers adopt chicks of another if the relationship is good between the mothers.

The chicks are limited in speed by their size and thus can't move as quickly as adults at full speed. There is a high mortality rate for chicks that are outrun by their much quicker parents in a crisis, which makes a large clutch size helpful in the first few weeks in ensuring at least a few survive. A solitary predator can only focus on one chick, usually. By scattering away from each other the chicks can cut the odds of being caught, because whichever one is caught will be alone, usually. And this might be enough of a distraction for the others to get away.