Barred Buttonquail (Turnix suscitator) [XC107102]
by Peter Boesman from saldi pond, India (song)
Barred Buttonquail (Turnix suscitator) [XC165246]
by Marc Anderson from SACON, India (call)
Nest
A scrape or depression lined with grass, located in crops and scrub jungle.
Eggs (Guide)
3 - 4; greyish white, with reddish brown or blackish purple speckles. Incubation: male only.
Subspecies
Subspecies powelli may merit species status. Subspecies interrumpens probably identical to blakistoni. Validity of subspecies baweanus sometimes questioned, due to similarity with Javan suscitator.
Birds of Sumatran zone sometimes receive different subspecific designations: those of northern Sumatra have been placed in subspecies atrogularis; those of central Sumatra subspecies machetes; and those of Belitung I subspecies kuiperi. However, there are no clear patterns of geographical variation, and all three populations probably best retained in nominate suscitator.
The following 18 subspecies are recognised:
suscitator (Gmelin, 1789) - Sumatra, Belitung I and Bangka I to Java and Bali.
taigoor (Sykes, 1832) - India.
leggei Baker, ECS, 1920 - Sri Lanka.
plumbipes (Hodgson, 1837) - Nepal, Sikkim, Bangladesh and Assam east to north-eastern Myanmar.
bengalensis Blyth, 1852 - Lower western Bengal (India).
okinavensis Phillips, AR, 1947 - Southern Kyushu and Makenoshima I (Japan) south to Ryukyu Is.
rostratus Swinhoe, 1865 - Taiwan.
blakistoni (Swinhoe, 1871) - Myanmar and northern Vietnam to southern China and Hainan.
pallescens Robinson and Stuart Baker, 1928 - South-central Myanmar.
thai Deignan, 1946 - Central Thailand.
interrumpens Robinson and Stuart Baker, 1928 - Peninsular Myanmar and Thailand.
atrogularis (Eyton, 1839) - Malay Peninsula.
baweanus Hoogerwerf, 1962 - Bawean I (Java).
fasciatus Temminck, 1815 - Northern Philippines (Luzon to Mindoro, Sibuyan and Masbate).
haynaldi Blasius, W, 1888 - Palawan and Calamian Group (western Philippines).
nigrescens Tweeddale, 1878 - Panay and nearby islands south to Negros and Cebu (central-eastern Philippines).