That is a good point. I was keeping mine in a similar cage when i was in town. They would generally stay close to the cage when they escaped. I think they want a familiar area. I would put a box or something at one corner and chase them around the edge to corner them.
Discussion
Interdast! Chimpkens or Quailberts? These Jap quail certainly seem comfortable around me and they know their little fortresses well, so I suppose it is likely they would hang around.
They would at leaat hang around until they were hanging from the beak of a kookaburra or the claws of an eagle or the mouth of my neighbour's huge dog who is seemingly impossible to keep out of the garden. Predator city here, so the the layers of cage are very comforting to me when I am not close. Haha.
In funny relation to your post about gil: SWIM would gleefully murder any predator eyeing-off their covey . . . Followed by MAXIMUM MUTILATION. Maybe the other way around! SWIM be crazy. 🥰