Black-breasted buttonquail

Description

The black-breasted buttonquail (Turnix melanogaster) is a rare buttonquail endemic to eastern Australia,where it is usually found in rainforest.Like other buttonquails,it is unrelated to the true quails.The black-breasted buttonquail is a plump quail-shaped bird of predominantly marbled black,rufous and pale brown,marked prominently with white spots and stripes,and white eyes.Like other buttonquails,the female is larger and more distinctively coloured than the male.Measuring up to 20 cm (8 in),it has a black face and chin,sprinkled with fine white markings.The smaller male measures up to 18 cm (7.5 in) and lacks the black markings.The black-breasted buttonquail is rated as near threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)'s Red List of Endangered species.The black-breasted buttonquail is a plump quail-shaped bird of predominantly marbled black,rufous and pale brown,marked prominently with white spots and stripes,and white eyes.Like other buttonquails,the female is larger and more distinctively coloured than the male.Measuring up to 20 cm (8 in),it has a black face and chin,sprinkled with fine white markings.The smaller male measures up to 19 cm (7.5 in) and lacks the black markings.The black markings and large size of the female and the dark markings and whitish face of the male distinguish the species from the painted buttonquail.The female makes a low-pitched oom call.