Painted Buttonquail (Turnix varius)

Other Scientific Names
Turnix varia [BirdLife International (2004)], Turnix varia [Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993)]

Other Names (World)
Painted Buttonquail, Varied Buttonquail, Painted Quail, Butterfly Quail, Butterfly Dotterel, Scrub Quail, Varied Quail, Speckled Quail, New Holland Partridge

Family
Turnicidae (Buttonquails)

Size
17 - 23 cm

First Described (Guide)
(Latham, 1801)

Derivation
Tur'-nix - L., quail: var'-i-a - L., varius, different

Habitat
Open forests, heaths, and lighted timbered ridges. From sea-level - 1,500 m.

Range (Guide)

Australia (B), New Caledonia (B).

Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).

Status LC
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Food
Seeds and insects.

Voice
Female, a deep, swelling 'oom' at about 1 second intervals, getting faster and through a repeated sequence. A rapid drumming in contact.

(18Kb) © ? (2)

Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (14)...)

Painted Buttonquail (Turnix varius) [XC687872]
by Zebedee Muller from Nombinnie Nature Reserve, New South Wales, Australia (song)

Painted Buttonquail (Turnix varius) [XC387137]
by Yvonne Phillips from Mount Hope, Cobar Shire Council, New South Wales, Australia (call)

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 Buttonquail (Turnix olivii) and Chestnut-backed Buttonquail (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).

References
See References.

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

Files:

JPG files for Painted Buttonquail (Turnix varius) - 10 files

MP3 files for Painted Buttonquail (Turnix varius) - 2 files

More Information

BirdLife International

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