The story begins inside an egg roughly a fourth the size of a chicken's. After 21 days of development, a bumblebee-sized chick emerges. These tiny "puffballs" immediately begin a life of high-stakes adventure at the bottom of the food chain .
: Bobwhites are social birds that live in groups called coveys . For safety, they often sleep in a doughnut-shaped formation, with birds facing outward to scout for predators while those in the center stay warm.
: Historically, these birds thrived in habitats maintained by low-intensity fires, earning them the nickname "Firebird" . A Fading Echo
