Barred Buttonquail
Turnix suscitator
Tiny rotund, short-tailed bird, scarcely larger than a sparrow; like a diminutive partridge or quail but only distantly related. Brown with scaly streaking above, extensive black barring on the chest (more extensive on the female), and rich tawny flanks. Extremely difficult to detect, moving about invisibly in dense weedy vegetation in fields, forest edges, and farmland. Flying birds have whirring flight, show contrast between dark flight feathers and paler coverts. Courting females give sonorous, booming calls from dense vegetation.
Identification
A typical little buttonquail, rufous-brown above, rusty and buff below. Chin, throat and breast closely barred with black. Female larger and more richly coloured, with throat and middle of breast black. The blue-grey bill and legs, and yellowish white eyes are diagnostic, as are also the pale buff shoulder-patches on the wings when in flight. Absence of hind toe distinguishes Bustard and Button quails from true quails. Pairs, in scrub and grassland. The calls are a motorcycle-like drr-r-r-r-r-r and a loud hoon- hoon-hoon.[citation needed]
Taxonomy
The barred buttonquail was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the grouse like birds in the genus Tetrao and coined the binomial name Tetrao suscitator. Gmelin cited the English ornithologist Francis Willughby who in 1678 had described and illustrated the "Indian Quail of Brontius" from the Island of Java. The barred buttonquail is now placed in the genus Turnix that was introduced in 1791 by French naturalist in Pierre Bonnaterre. The genus name is an abbreviation of the genus Coturnix. The specific epithet suscitator is Latin and means "awakening".<p>Sixteen subspecies are recognised.
- Scientific name
- Turnix suscitator
- Authority
- (Gmelin, JF, 1789)
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Turnicidae
- Genus
- Turnix
Range and habitat
The species occurs throughout India up to elevations of about 2500 m in the Himalayas, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Burma, Indonesia, the Philippines and most of Southeast Asia. There are four geographical races that differ somewhat in colour. It is found in most habitats except dense forest and desert, in particular, scrub jungle, light deciduous forest and farmlands.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
Widespread and common throughout its large range, the barred buttonquail is evaluated as being of Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of threatened species.
- Population trend
- rising
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Painted Spurfowl
Galloperdix lunulata
Slightly smaller than a domestic chicken. The brightly colored male is unmistakable with dense white spots while the female is more drab brown overall. This is a bird of the rocky and scrub forest habitats in the Indian peninsula and is mostly found in pairs or in small groups. Birds are generally shy and not very vocal unlike other members of the family. When disturbed, they scuttle through the undergrowth and rarely take to the wing. It give a loud, rapidly repeated “chur, chur, chur” and the male also gives a bubbling, clucking “chugak” when flushed.
Honeyguide Greenbul
Baeopogon indicator
Unusual dark greenbul with upright posture that does strongly resemble a honeyguide. Males have a white eye and females a dark one. Both sexes show a large white patch in the outer tail. Found in the upper portions of lowland forest. Usually in pairs or small groups. Most often detected by call: a slow series of mewing whistles. Similar to Sjöstedt's Greenbul, but has darker gray underparts, and male further distinguished by its pale eye. Distinguished from honeyguides by its different shape, especially the longer tail. Flight is direct, unlike undulating flight of a honeyguide.
Cozumel Emerald
Cynanthus forficatus
Only on Cozumel Island, Mexico, where it is usually the most frequently encountered hummingbird. Feeds low to high on a variety of flowers, preferring forest edge, gardens, and other semi-open habitats. Male is stunning, emerald-green with a long, deeply forked tail. Female has distinctive broad dark facemask, rather long forked tail. No similar species on the island (Canivet’s Emerald occurs on the Yucatan mainland).
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