Black-breasted buttonquail facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Black-breasted buttonquail |
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| Adult male, Inskip Point | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Turnix
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| Species: |
melanogaster
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| Black-breasted buttonquail range | |
| Synonyms | |
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Hemipodius melanogaster Gould, 1837 |
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The black-breasted buttonquail (Turnix melanogaster) is a rare and special bird found only in eastern Australia. Even though it's called a "quail," it's not related to the true quails you might know. This plump, quail-shaped bird is about 17–19 cm (6.7–7.5 in) long. It has beautiful marbled black, reddish-brown, and pale brown feathers, with white spots and stripes. Its eyes are white.
What makes this bird extra unique is that the female is larger and more brightly colored than the male. She has a striking black head and neck with tiny white markings. Also, their family roles are switched! The female mates with several male partners, then leaves them to hatch the eggs and care for the young.
You can usually find black-breasted buttonquails in rainforests, searching for insects and other small creatures among thick layers of fallen leaves on the ground. Sadly, much of their original home has been cleared, and the groups of birds that remain are now separated. Because of this, the species is listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). A three-year conservation project, which ran from 2021 to 2024, worked to protect these amazing birds.
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Discovering the Black-breasted Buttonquail
The famous bird expert, John Gould, first described the black-breasted buttonquail in 1837. He found specimens near Moreton Bay in Queensland. Its scientific name, Turnix melanogaster, comes from ancient Greek words meaning "black" and "belly."
The official name for this bird is "black-breasted buttonquail," chosen by the International Ornithologists' Union. The Butchulla people, who are the traditional owners of K'gari (Fraser Island), call this bird the mur'rindum bird.
What Does This Unique Bird Look Like?
The black-breasted buttonquail is a plump bird shaped like a quail. It has feathers that are a mix of black, reddish-brown, and light brown, with clear white spots and stripes. It has bright white eyes, a grey beak, and yellowish feet. Its tail is short, and its wings are short and rounded.
Females are usually bigger and heavier than males. They weigh about 80–119 g (2.8–4.2 oz), while males weigh 50–87 g (1.8–3.1 oz).
Female vs. Male Appearance
The female buttonquail is more colorful than the male. Her head, neck, and chest are black, with a reddish tint on her nape and the back of her crown. She has small white spots on her neck and face, which look like a mustache and eyebrows. These spots turn into bars on her chest, and her underparts are dark grey.
The male has a whitish face and neck with black speckles. His ear coverts are darker, and his head and upper back are brown-grey. His chest has black and white bars and spots, with reddish-brown on his sides. The rest of his underparts are grey with dark stripes. Young birds look like adult males but have blue-grey eyes and duller brown-grey upperparts with more black blotches.
Calls and Sounds
The female makes a low "oom" sound – a sequence of 5–7 notes that last 1.5–2.0 seconds each. She might repeat it many times. You can only hear this call if there has been enough rain recently. The female also whistles softly to her young.
Males make high, quick alarm calls or calls to gather others. One call sounds like "ak ak" when they are separated from their group. Young birds make chirping or piping sounds to ask for food or warn of danger.
Where Does the Black-breasted Buttonquail Live?
You can find the black-breasted buttonquail in eastern Australia. Its range stretches from Hervey Bay in central Queensland down to the northeast part of New South Wales. These areas usually get 770–1,200 mm (30–47 in) of rain each year.
This bird is rare, and its home is broken up into smaller pieces. It lives in dry rainforests and nearby areas. It also likes bottle tree (Brachychiton rupestris) scrub, lantana thickets, and old hoop pine (Araucaria cunninghamii) plantations with dense tree cover and thick plants underneath. Many plants in these areas drop lots of leaves, which the buttonquail uses for foraging. No other buttonquail lives in this type of habitat.
Palmgrove National Park is an important area for this species. Sadly, the population on Inskip Point was once large but has declined.
How Does This Bird Behave?
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The black-breasted buttonquail mostly stays on the ground. It doesn't have a back toe, so it can't perch in trees. If something scares it, the bird usually freezes in place or runs away instead of flying.
Reproduction and Life Cycle
In buttonquails, the usual roles for parents are switched. The female is larger and more colorful. She mates with several male partners. Then, she leaves the males to sit on the eggs and raise the chicks.
It's hard to study their breeding habits because the birds and their nests are difficult to find. The breeding season might be from October to March in some areas. However, chicks have been seen all year round, suggesting they can breed whenever conditions are good. Cold weather can stop them from breeding.
For most of the year, a female buttonquail lives with one to three males. During breeding season, the female claims a territory. The males often have smaller territories within hers. The female makes drumming calls to attract a mate, and the male answers with clucking sounds.
The nest is a shallow dip in the leaf litter, about 10 by 6 cm (3.9 by 2.4 in). It's lined with leaves, moss, and dried plants. Nests are often hidden between tree roots or in thick plants like lantana (Lantana camara). We don't know if the male or female builds the nest.
They lay three or four shiny grey-white or buff eggs. These eggs have dark brown-black and lavender spots and measure about 28 by 23 mm (1.10 by 0.91 in). The eggs hatch after 18 to 21 days. The chicks are born well-developed and can leave the nest soon after hatching. They can find their own food by 8–11 days old, but their parents might feed them for two weeks. By 8–12 weeks, they get their adult feathers and can start breeding when they are three to five months old.
What Does the Black-breasted Buttonquail Eat?
The black-breasted buttonquail searches for food on the ground. It likes areas with thick layers of leaf litter in vine forests or lantana thickets. These areas have leaf litter that is usually 3–10 cm (1–4 in) thick.
A group of birds will scratch out many shallow feeding spots. They do this by scratching the ground with one leg, then the other, in a circular pattern. This creates a small dip about 20 cm (8 in) wide. They then peck for insects and other small creatures in the exposed soil.
Studies have found parts of ants, beetles, spiders (like jumping spiders), centipedes, millipedes, and snails in their droppings. This shows that the black-breasted buttonquail eats a variety of insects and other small invertebrates.
Protecting This Special Bird
The black-breasted buttonquail is listed as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The Australian Government also lists it as vulnerable.
Experts believe there are as few as 2,500 breeding birds left, and their numbers are still going down. No single group has more than 250 birds. The dry rainforests where they live are often not in national parks, so they are at risk from being cleared for farms or buildings. Since Europeans arrived in Australia, 90% of their habitat has been lost, and what's left is broken into small pieces. Studies show they don't forage in areas smaller than 7 ha (17 acres).
On the mainland, these birds are also in danger from feral animals like cats, foxes, and pigs. Humans and invasive weeds also pose threats.
From 2021 to 2024, the Butchulla Land and Sea Rangers worked with scientists on a three-year project. This project aimed to reduce threats to the bird and improve its habitat. In August 2021, they set up 19 cameras on K'gari and five at Inskip Point and Double Island Point. They left the cameras for seven weeks. They saw signs of damage from feral animals on the mainland. However, they also saw baby birds and many signs of the birds at Rainbow Beach and Inskip Point on the mainland, and Dilli Village and Champagne Pools on the island. They set pig and cat traps and managed weeds in the area. They also performed traditional burns in the winter to help prevent bushfires on the island.
See also
In Spanish: Torillo pechinegro para niños
 | James Van Der Zee |
 | Alma Thomas |
 | Ellis Wilson |
 | Margaret Taylor-Burroughs |
