Development of dustbathing components in bobwhite and Japanese quail

The development of dustbathing components was investigated in Bobwhite and Japanese quail. The incidence and frequencies of components for both species increased with age, but dustbathing occurred earlier in Japanese quail. The dust toss, head rub, and side rub components invariably developed in the same order they occur during an adult bout. The topographies of many components changed systematically with a "rudimentary" form preceding the typical adult form. Large individual differences were observed in the development of the temporal relations among components, but these differences were unrelated to the relative frequencies of components.