Small Buttonquail
Turnix sylvaticus
Tiny quail-like bird that is actually more closely related to shorebirds. Intricately patterned above, with a buffy-orange breast and pale belly. Note black spots on the upper sides of the chest. Female is the better-marked of the two sexes. Found in grassy or scrubby areas, where it can be difficult to see; listen for female’s low sonorous moos, most commonly given at dawn and dusk.
Identification
The common buttonquail resembles the common quail. It has streaked sandy brown upperparts, buff underparts with black flank markings, and a plain face. In flight, a whitish wingbar contrasts with the grey wing. Sexes are similar, but immature birds are more spotted below. This tiny buttonquail is notoriously difficult to see. It is a small, 15 cm (5.9 in) long drab running bird, which avoids flying.
Taxonomy
The common buttonquail was formally described and illustrated in 1789 by the French botanist René Desfontaines under the binomial name Tetrao sylvaticus. The specific epithet sylvaticus is Latin meaning "of the woods". The common buttonquail is now placed in the genus Turnix that was introduced in 1840 by Pierre Bonnaterre.<p>Nine subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Turnix sylvaticus
- Authority
- (Desfontaines, 1789)
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Turnicidae
- Genus
- Turnix
Range and habitat
This species is resident from southern Spain and Africa through India and tropical Asia to Indonesia. It inhabits warm grasslands or scrub jungle and feeds on insects and seeds. This species avoids thick forest and hilly country, and lives by preference in cornfields and stretches of grassy plain though it may also be found in any type of low herbage and open scrub jungle.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
It skulks and is flushed with difficulty, rising often close by one's feet. When flushed it flies low over the ground and soon settles again, after which it is very difficult to put up a second time. The female calls with a deep hoom-hoom-hoom and the male replies kek-kek-kek.<p>The female initiates courtship and builds the ground nest. The male incubates the normally four speckled greyish eggs, and tends the young, which can run as soon as they are hatched. The nesting season is June to September. The nest is a slight pad of grass placed in a natural hollow in the ground where it is usually tucked away amongst the stems of a tuft of grass. Very occasionally the grass is bent over it in a sort of canopy.
Conservation
Widespread throughout its large range, the small buttonquail is evaluated as least concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. However, the nominate subspecies, which is distributed in the Mediterranean region, is critically endangered. It disappeared from most of its range during the 20th century and is currently only present in Morocco after Spain officially declared the extinction of the species in 2018. In 2021, the IUCN also declared the buttonquail extinct in Europe. This makes it the first bird species to have become extinct in Europe since the Great Auk in 1852.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Eye-ringed Parrotbill
Suthora ricketti
Gregarious long-tailed little bird. Restricted to southwestern China and adjacent northern Myanmar, where it inhabits grassy and scrubby areas, as well as bamboo stands and secondary growth, in mountains and foothills. Note the warm reddish-brown head, pale eye, darker brown wings and tail, and streaked white throat. Similar to Brown-winged Parrotbill (with which it was formerly considered one species), but note paler eyes and more contrastingly streaked breast. Moves about noisily through dense vegetation, twittering and chattering constantly.
Pohnpei Cicadabird
Edolisoma insperatum
Small cuckooshrike with a restricted range, found only on island of Pohnpei in the Senyavin Islands, which are part of the Federated States of Micronesia. Males are mainly gray with black on the face, wing, and tail. Distinctive female is mostly rufous-brown, with a gray cap. Seemingly only found in good forest, including mangroves. One frequent vocalization is a slurred, mewing whistle. Distinctive within its small range.
Greater Antillean Bullfinch
Melopyrrha violacea
A secretive, but not shy, inhabitant of dense thickets in a wide variety of habitats from wet forests to dry scrublands and gardens. Dark gray to black body combined with an orange-red eyebrow, throat, and vent are unique within its range. It is often heard before seen. Song is an unimpressive series of high-pitched “zit” or “seet” notes, sometimes followed by high thin buzz. Call similar to individual notes from song.
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