From about Cooktown, Qld south to Victoria and south-west South Australia, icluding Kangaroo Island. Also soth-western Western Australia north to about Houtman Abrolhos Islands, Tasmania.
Nest
A depression in the ground, with grass forming a slight hood, lined with fine dried grasses, usually under a low bush, tussock of grass or other herbage.
Eggs (Guide)
Usually 4; glossy, white, minutely speckled with light brown, with large blotches of black and sepia; round to pyriform; about 27 x 20 mm. Incubation: 14 - 15 days; by male.
Young
Precocial, nidifugous.
Subspecies
Forms superspecies with Buff-breasted Button-quail (Turnix olivii) and Chestnut-backed Button-quail (Turnix castanotus). Proposed subspecies stirlingi (south-western Australia) and subminuta (north-eastern Australia) no longer recognized, because based on individual rather than geographical variation. Subspecies novaecaledoniae very distinct, and may be separate species.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
varius (Latham, 1801) - South-western, eastern and south-eastern Australia; Tasmania.
scintillans (Gould, 1845) - Houtman Abrolhos, WA.
novaecaledoniae Ogilvie-Grant, 1889 - New Caledonia. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, New Caledonian Buttonquail (Turnix novaecaledoniae).
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet