Hunting season
Wachtel Community of Madrid
The common quail (Coturnix coturnix) is Europe's smallest gallinaceous bird, about 16 cm long and at most around 120 g in weight. Its sandy-brown camouflage plumage is finely streaked, and the male shows a black throat patch with a pale collar. In Germany the species is technically listed under federal hunting law, but no open season is set, so it is effectively protected year-round. It appears on the early-warning list of the German Red List of breeding birds and is strictly protected under the Federal Nature Conservation Act.
— Closed today
When may Wachtel be hunted in Community of Madrid?
Open ranges are highlighted. Closed (Schonzeit) months show as empty rows.
Exact dates
Codorniz · Modalidad: General · Codorniz
- 2025-10-08 → 2026-01-31· Forbidden weekdays: mon,tue,wed,fri
- 2025-08-21 → 2025-09-21· Forbidden weekdays: mon,tue,wed,fri
Queda prohibido el empleo de hurón en toda clase de terrenos cinegéticos, salvo en aquellos casos expresamente autorizados por la Consejería competente en materia de medio ambiente.Con carácter general, se prohíbe la práctica de cualquier actividad cinegética entodos los terrenos de aprovechamiento cinegético común, conocidos como terrenos libres, en la Comunidad de Madrid. En cualquier caso, si se produjeran daños graves verificables en los cultivos agrícolas de grandes áreas de superficie, se podrá mediante Resolución de la dirección general con competencias en materia de caza suspender esta limitación en los términos municipales afectados, a instancias de sus Ayuntamientos. Media veda (21.08.2025 - 21.09.2025): En cotos privados de caza con superficie igual o superior a 250 hectáreas.
Codorniz · Modalidad: General · Cotos privados de caza con superficie igual o superior a 250 hectáreas · Codorniz
- 2023-08-20 → 2023-09-17· Forbidden weekdays: mon,tue,wed,fri
Queda prohibido el empleo de hurón en toda clase de terrenos cinegéticos, salvo en aquellos casos expresamente autorizados por la Consejería competente en materia de medio ambiente.Con carácter general, se prohíbe la práctica de cualquier actividad cinegética entodos los terrenos de aprovechamiento cinegético común, conocidos como terrenos libres, en la Comunidad de Madrid. En cualquier caso, si se produjeran daños graves verificables en los cultivos agrícolas de grandes áreas de superficie, se podrá mediante Resolución de la dirección general con competencias en materia de caza suspender esta limitación en los términos municipales afectados, a instancias de sus Ayuntamientos.
About Wachtel
In Central Europe the common quail inhabits open field and meadow landscapes: extensively managed grasslands, cereal fields, fallow land and weedy margins, anywhere the bird finds enough low cover to walk and breed on the ground. Quail spend almost their entire lives hidden in the vegetation; their presence is usually revealed only by the male's far-carrying song, the three-syllable Wachtelschlag often transcribed as „Pickwerwick“. Under good conditions the call carries several hundred metres and is heard mainly at dusk and on warm summer nights.
The common quail is the only true long-distance migrant among Europe's gallinaceous birds. Every autumn it leaves its breeding grounds and winters in Africa, with a significant share of the population crossing the Sahara. Migration routes can span several thousand kilometres, and on the way the species still faces intensive hunting pressure in parts of the Mediterranean. In Germany itself the picture has changed dramatically over recent decades: loss of habitat through agricultural intensification, the disappearance of structured field margins, heavier use of pesticides and fertilisers, and ever earlier and larger-scale mowing all put nests and chicks under severe pressure. From a hunter's perspective the quail is therefore a species to listen for and record rather than to pursue. If you hear the Schlagruf in your shooting ground, please consider it in your land management: later mowing, wide flowering margins, fallow strips and skylark plots all benefit this ground-nesting bird directly.
Other species in Community of Madrid
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Source & disclaimer
All information without guarantee. Hunting and closed seasons are sourced from the state hunting associations. Spotted an error? Email us at info@hunterco.de.