Red-backed Buttonquail Turnix maculosus Scientific name definitions

12–16 cm; male 23–39 g, female 32–51 g; female larger. Considerable geographical overlap with T. velox and T. pyrrhothorax, but differs from both in rufous-brown to chestnut hindneck collar  and shoulders, well-defined buff panel on inner wing-coverts (visible in flight) and boldly marked flanks, breast-sides and wing-coverts (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). On Sumba (Lesser Sundas) could be confused with T. everetti (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Female Asian Blue Quail (Synoicus chinensis) and both sexes of Brown Quail (S. ypsilophorus) might be confused with present species, but Brown Quail is larger, and both other species lack characteristic pale coverts panel in flight and rufous hindneck (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Small Turnix with darkish upperparts  , slender yellow bill  (brighter in female) (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), pale eyes and yellow legs  . Female  has broader, brighter collar than male  , with more restricted median crown-stripe (sometimes completely lacking) and brighter buff to pale rufous-brown face, sides of head and sometimes even throat (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Non-breeders duller; also some individual variation in brightness. Juvenile smaller, darker, more mottled and scalloped, with white-spotted wing-coverts (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ) and dark eyes; lacks pale wing panel in flight (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Races vary in size and colour, some much darker overall; extent of rufous collar  on hindneck varies too, being absent in some: race beccarii has poorly developed collar and black back speckled and barred yellowish rusty; race kinneari is large, has a broad, dark rust-coloured collar, black-and-grey back spotted and barred rusty-brown, and dark ochraceous rusty underparts; race obiensis has poorly defined rusty collar in female, dark grey edges to black back that is spotted and barred rusty, and mainly pale underparts with a rusty-ochre foreneck; race sumbanus lacks rusty collar and has dark ash-coloured upperparts with dark brownish-rusty spots and bars; race floresianus is very similar to savuensis, but smaller and darker above than all other Wallacean subspecies, and has an ochraceous-rust vent; race maculosus has a broad collar, yellowish-rust underparts and black-and-rusty upperparts; race savuensis  is slightly paler above than previous and has pronounced collar; race saturatus is closest to nominate, but is overall darker above and slightly deeper rufous below and over supercilium, with a more curved, deeper-based, dirty yellow bill; female of race furvus has almost entirely rusty-chestnut underparts, with noticeable black scalloping on sides of breast and flanks, much darker upperparts and contrastingly black-centred and buff-fringed greater coverts; race giluwensis differs from races horsbrughi and furvus in being paler below, as well as lacking chestnut collar of former and is smaller than latter, although some evidence of intergradation with horsbrughi; race horsbrughi is generally similar to furvus, but has overall paler upperparts and less boldly patterned wing-coverts; female of race mayri has noticeable collar, although this is duller and less clear than in horsbrughi, and further differs from latter in having paler upperparts and underparts, with whitish central belly, and virtually all-yellow bill; race <em>salamonis</em> is similar to horsbrughi, but is overall larger and deeper rufous below (especially on flanks and central belly) and on collar, with broad grey fringes to crown feathers, dark grey upperparts with black spots and deep ochraceous fringes to tertials and wing-coverts, and also differs from saturatus in having greyer (less blackish) upperparts and rufous collar (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Rank grassland, crops and sedgeland; also grassy ground cover in woodland, often moist or seasonally flooded, and sometimes in recently burnt areas; from sea-level up to 2400 m on New Guinea (4 Pratt, T. K., and B. M. Beehler (2015) Birds of New Guinea. Second edition. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA. Close ), more generally to 1200 m over most of range (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). In Australia, restricted to regions with summer rainfall in excess of 400 mm and apparently only resident in places with at least 800 mm of rainfall at this season (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Breeds in dense grass near water.

Poorly known; apparently some populations resident (probably those on islands and in areas of high summer rainfall in mainland Australia) (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), others migratory or dispersive, with some coastal concentration in dry season in Australian tropics and fluctuations in SE of Australian range; more widespread in NW Australia during wet season, where solely recorded in Kimberley Range during Jun–Mar (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Migrates at night. Like most if not all Turnix, prefers to hide or freeze in response to perceived danger, flushing only reluctantly and usually only for short distance (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Seeds, e.g. of grasses, Vicia, Swainsona, Polygonum aviculare, Rumex; also green shoots and invertebrates; species more insectivorous than most Turnix. Swallows grit and sand, presumably to aid mechanical breakdown of seeds in gizzard, as is probably norm for family. Terrestrial, nocturnal and crepuscular; gleans and scratches in litter. Recorded alone, in pairs or in family groups of up to five (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Advertising call, mainly by female and given day and night in spring, is a subdued and slightly upslurred “oom” (considered higher-pitched and more cooing than corresponding vocalization in T. varius), which is repeated at 0·5-second to one-second intervals up to c. 15 times, initially slower then accelerating slightly (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close , 5 Dutson, G. (2011). Birds of Melanesia: The Bismarcks, Solomons, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Song has been likened to distant fruit-dove (Ptilinopus) (5 Dutson, G. (2011). Birds of Melanesia: The Bismarcks, Solomons, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Season Oct–Jun. Solitary breeder; females sequentially polyandrous (at least usually, and in captivity, where lays second clutch 14 days after first) (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Nest a shallow depression on ground within tall-grass formation (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), under grass tussock, herbage or shrub, lined with grass, eucalypt leaves and cattle dung (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ); surrounding grass stems bent and woven to form canopy or dome with side entrance. Usually four greyish-white to yellowish eggs heavily marked pale brown or grey (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ) (range 2–4), size 21·1–24·6 mm × 17·5–20·6 mm (floresianus) (6 Mees, G. F. (2006). The avifauna of Flores (Lesser Sunda Islands). Zoologische Verhandelingen Leiden 80(3):1–261. Close ); incubation 14 days, commencing with final egg (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Incubation and chick-care by male alone, although there is a presumably exceptional record (in captivity) of male that mated with two females, forcing one of latter to assume incubatation duties (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Chicks precocial and nidifugous (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), dusky with only traces of pale markings; self-feeding at ten days, fully-feathered at six weeks, adult size at seven weeks, adult-like plumage at c. 4 months.

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Uncommon in E Australia, where population apparently subject to long fluctuations in SE Queensland (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), but has apparently all but disappeared from SE extremity of Australian range (in New South Wales). Remains common in N Australia, where occasionally recorded in huge numbers within small patches of extant habitat following large fires (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), but even in this region there is some evidence of a decline (7 Franklin, D. C. (1999). Evidence of disarray amongst granivorous bird assemblages in the savannas of northern Australia, a region of sparse human settlement. Biological Conservation 90(1):53–68. Close ). Still common in late 1980s in remaining habitat on Guadalcanal (Solomon Is), but most of habitat there now destroyed and race salamonis may now be threatened (8 Blaber, S.J.M. and Milton, D.A. (1991). A note on habitat decline and the status of the Spotted Button-quail Turnix maculosa salomonis on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. Emu. 91(1): 64–65. Close ), although it has recently been reported from nearby Florida Is (5 Dutson, G. (2011). Birds of Melanesia: The Bismarcks, Solomons, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ); likewise, few records of race saturatus on New Britain and Duke of York I since 1905 (9 Dutson, G. (2001). New distributional ranges for Melanesian birds. Emu 101(3):237–248. Close , 5 Dutson, G. (2011). Birds of Melanesia: The Bismarcks, Solomons, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Just two records ever on Kai Is (race obiensis) (10 Johnstone, R. E., and S. (B.) van Balen (2013). The birds of the Kai and Tayandu Islands, Maluku region, Indonesia. Western Australian Naturalist 29(1):11–56. Close ). Few concrete data concerning status and abundance from over much of species’ Indonesian and New Guinea range (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), in part doubtless due to lack of observer coverage of its habitat, for example on Sumba (race sumbanus), where known from just four recent localities (11 Linsley, M. D., M. J. Jones, and S. J. Marsden (1998). A review of the Sumba avifauna. Kukila 10:60–90. Close ) and the species is generally considered to be uncommon in the Lesser Sundas (race maculosus) (3 Johnstone, R. E., O. Hidayat, J. C. Darnell, and C. R. Trainor (2014). The avifauna of Semau Island, Lesser Sundas, Indonesia: ecology, taxonomy and conservation. Western Australian Naturalist 29(3):162–221. Close ). Generally considered to rather local on New Guinea, although easily overlooked (4 Pratt, T. K., and B. M. Beehler (2015) Birds of New Guinea. Second edition. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA. Close ). Elsewhere, species apparently still secure, but presumably subject to habitat destruction and human predation in many areas.