Chestnut-backed Buttonquail
Turnix castanotus
Streaked buttonquail with very heavy pale bill, found in open woodlands, including stony ridges. Heavily patterned, with pale and dark streaks on rich rufescent back, light streaks on pale olive underparts. In flight, pale wing patches and rusty brown rump visible. When disturbed, this species tends to run away rather than flush. Occurs across parts of northern Kimberley region and top end of the Northern Territory.
Identification
The chestnut-backed buttonquail (Turnix castanotus) is a species of bird in the family Turnicidae. It is endemic to Australia.
Taxonomy
John Gould described the species in 1840, from a specimen collected by Benjamin Bynoe, ship's surgeon of HMS Beagle, from northwestern Australia, as Hemipodius castanotus. English zoologist George Gray placed it in the genus Turnix in 1870. William Robert Ogilvie-Grant corrected the name to Turnix castanonota in 1889. Three subspecies were described by Gregory Mathews, but all are now considered as invalid and merely individual variants.
- Scientific name
- Turnix castanotus
- Authority
- (Gould, 1840)
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Turnicidae
- Genus
- Turnix
Range and habitat
Native to northern Australia, the species ranges from the Dampier Peninsula in Western Australia across to Westmoreland Station in the Gulf Country of northwestern Queensland, with possible records from Gregory Downs and Augustus Downs further east. It is also native to Melville Island and Groote Eylandt. It was common around Borroloola and McArthur River, but not currently. Its existence in Queensland was only confirmed in 2020.<p>Its natural habitats are low grasslands and Eucalyptus forests and woodland, favouring quartzite-sandstone ridges, plateaus and escarpments, mostly (but not always) in areas that receive over 800 mm (31 in) summer rainfall.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: stable.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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