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Brown Quail (Coturnix ypsilophora) Alternate name(s): "Swamp Quail*", "Partridge Quail", "Silver Quail", "Tasmanian Quail" Aboriginal name(s): Race "australis": "puRunggai" [western djadjawurrung]; "booroolum", "burrandool"; "mooritj" (SW WA) Size: 17-20 cm Weight: 70-140 g

Australia: Family Group 1 Family Group 1 table Emu Southern Cassowary Malleefowl Orange-footed Scrubfowl Australian Brush-turkey Stubble Quail King Quail Brown Quail Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Brown Quails are small, plump, chicken-like birds with predominantly brown, highly cryptic plumage with grey streaks and almost no visible tail. Their eyes are brown, but they usually appear dark, because the pupils tend to be wide-open most of the time. The bill is blue-grey with an almost black top of the upper mandible. The legs are yellow.

Taxonomy, classification See Brown Quail at Wikipedia . Click here for classification information Quail vs. Button-quail Although the two genera of the true quails, Coturnix, and the button-quails, Turnix, are outwardly very similar, and therefore often listed together, there are significant differences between them (which is the reason why they are in different family groups here). Genus Coturnix Turnix Common name True quails Button-quails Similar species Chicken-like Wader-like Toes 4 toes, one of which points backward 3 toes, all of which point forward Nesting habits Communal Non-communal Main incubator Female Male Incubation period ca. 21 days ca. 14 days No. of eggs 8-12 ≤ 4

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Brown Quail is available HERE . Brown Quails are found on the Australian continent, Tasmania, parts of New Guinea and in eastern Indonesia. (There are also introduced populations in Fiji and on the North Island of New Zealand). There are two races of Brown Quails in Australia. Race "australis" lives in an almost semi-circular range along the edge of the Australian continent, from about the Broome area in WA across the tropical North, into the eastern half of QLD and NSW, plus all of VIC. There is also a population in the south-western corner of WA. Nominate race "ypsilophora" is found only in Tasmania and on Flinders Island. They are often found in tall grass in open country, but also in open woodland. Where to look? How to find this species? Brown Quails can sometimes be seen on the edges of tall grass, when they emerge onto the slashed fringes of roadsides. Similarly, they can sometimes be spotted on or along hiking trails.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "australis" After occasionally spotting Brown Quails, race "australis", in passing near roadsides and in open grassland, we also spotted them on paddocks 20 km South of Narrabri. They liked to forage around the edges of a permanent waterhole there, where their camouflage is almost perfect. A family clan of about 20 birds resides there permanently. Since 2006 we see (and hear) Brown Quails, race "australis", semi-regularly at Eulah Creek, 20 km East of Narrabri, NSW. At times they are rarely visible, but their calls and some sightings, even on the lawn when it has grown high, indicate that they are present permanently. Usually, groups of up to 6 birds were spotted. After the neighbouring paddock had been slashed, they were gone for several months, until the grass grew tall again. They were heard and seen again during the 2009/2010 breeding season and in subsequent years. In March 2021 a pair was found in tall grass on a shallow hill ridge with 10 very young chicks. This family stayed around until at least late April 2021. Brown Quails, race "australis", were first spotted by us on the eastern side of the Great Dividing Range in mangroves in an intertidal wetland at Urunga board walk, Urunga Heads, NSW, in January 2011. Later also seen further South, e.g. in the Munmorah SCA and in the estuary of the Manning River near Old Bar, NSW. Since then they have been found by us, and are reported to us by various contributors, occasionally on the coastal fringe of both QLD and NSW. R. Plumtree reports spotting Brown Quails, race "australis", occasionally in the area of Ensay, East Gippsland, VIC. J. Greaves reports spotting Brown Quails, race "australis", at West Cape Howe NP, WA, in March 2015. E. Scott reports finding Brown Quails, race "australis", with young chicks at Roseberry Creek Valley, near Toonumbar NP, northern NSW, in January 2017. P. Brown found Brown Quails, race "australis", at Keep River NP, NT, in November 2018. M. Eaton reports finding Brown Quails, race "australis", reqularly in many wetlands in (near-)coastal south-eastern QLD and in north-eastern NSW. M. Mearns spotted Brown Quails, race "australis", in Diamantina NP, QLD, in August/September 2019. J. Greaves found Brown Quails, race "australis", at Cheynes Beach, Albany, WA, in June 2020. During the 2020/21 breeding season, after 3 years of severe drought and heat during the summers with subsequently a year of above average rainfall, an irruption of Brown Quails, race "australis", was observed in an area spanning from the Upper Hunter valley to the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW. We spotted a number of them, e.g., at Eulah Creek, 20 km East of Narrabri, NSW. At the time, no aerial predators, such as e.g. Spotted Harriers, were found in the region.

Photos

Race "australis"

ADULT

MALE

Close-up frontal view of a male Brown Quail - note the extensive rufous streaking (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Oxley Common, Brisbane, QLD, September 2017]

Frontal view of a male Brown Quail (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Priors Pocket Road, Moggill, QLD, November 2021]

Near-frontal view of a male Brown Quail (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Anstead Reserve, Anstead, QLD, February 2022]

Near-lateral view of a male Brown Quail (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Anstead Reserve, Anstead, QLD, February 2022]

Lateral view of a male Brown Quail (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Anstead Reserve, Anstead, QLD, February 2022]

Close-up lateral view of a male Brown Quail
[Eulah Creek, NSW, April 2021]

Lateral view of a male Brown Quail (photo courtesy of E. Scott)
[Roseberry Creek Valley, near Toonumbar NP, NSW, January 2017]

Lateral view of a male Brown Quail (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Priors Pocket Road, Moggill, QLD, November 2021]

Near-dorsal portrait of a male Brown Quail
[Eulah Creek, NSW, April 2021]

Near-dorsal view of a male Brown Quail (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Priors Pocket Road, Moggill, QLD, November 2021]

Dorsal view of a male(?) Brown Quail (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[The Spit, Gold Coast, QLD, January 2020]

FEMALE

Frontal view of a female(?) Brown Quail
[20 km South of Narrabri, May 2012]

Near-frontal view of a female Brown Quail (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Port Macquarie, NSW, January 2021]

Near-lateral view of a female Brown Quail (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Moggill, QLD, January 2023]

Near-lateral view of a female Brown Quail looking backwards (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Moggill, QLD, January 2023]

Close-up near-lateral view of a female Brown Quail (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Oxley Common, Brisbane, QLD, September 2017]

Lateral view of a female(?) Brown Quail; note the rich rufous tints of birds from the North of the continent
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Keep River NP, NT, November 2018]

Lateral view of a female(?) Brown Quail (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Sandy Camp Wetlands, Lytton, QLD, February 2019]

Lateral view of a female(?) Brown Quail stretching a wing (photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[Gold Coast, QLD, December 2013]

Near-dorsal view of a female(?) Brown Quail (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Moggill, QLD, January 2018]

Female Brown Quail with two tiny chicks (photo courtesy of E. Scott)
[Roseberry Creek Valley, near Toonumbar NP, NSW, January 2017]

PAIR

Pair of Brown Quails; male on the right, female on the left (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Gold Scrub Lane, Lake Samsonvale, QLD, November 2020]

Close-up lateral view of a pair of Brown Quails, allowing for the distinction of male, front, and female, back
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Eastlakes Golf Course, Sydney, NSW, November 2017]

Close-up lateral view of a pair of Brown Quails; male on the left
[Eulah Creek, NSW, March 2021]

Sex unknown

Lateral view of a Brown Quail on the move
[Near Narrabri, NSW, August 2011]

Dorsal view of a Brown Quail
[20 km South of Narrabri, May 2012]

Brown Quail caught out on a dirt road, ducking for cover
[Near Old Bar, NSW, September 2011]

Covey of about 10 Brown Quails on the edge of a waterhole
[20 km South of Narrabri, April 2006]

Close-up near-frontal view of a Brown Quail that was rescued after an attack by a predator (photo courtesy of R. Druce)
[Maules Creek, NSW, July 2012]

Close-up view of a Brown Quail's feet, which are very similar to those of a domestic chicken and characterise the bird as a true quail [member of the Coturnix family] (photo courtesy of R. Druce)
[Maules Creek, NSW, July 2012]

Comparison of Brown Quails with a male Brush Bronzewing (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Cheynes Beach, Albany, WA, June 2020]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Frontal view of a pair of Brown Quails with two juveniles behind them
[Eulah Creek, NSW, March 2021]

Dorsal view of a pair of Brown Quail with 4 juveniles (photo courtesy of V. Collins)
[Old Bar, NSW, January 2021]

Near-dorsal view of a juvenile Brown Quail (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Moggill, QLD, January 2018]

Female Brown Quail with two tiny chicks (photo courtesy of E. Scott)
[Roseberry Creek Valley, near Toonumbar NP, NSW, January 2017]

Breeding information

Breeding season: Sep - Apr

Eggs: 7 - 10

Incubation period: 14 days

Fledging age: N/A

The breeding season can vary, depending on local rainfall. Brown Quails can in principle breed all year round. Males and females both incubate.

Quail vs. Button-quail

Although the two genera of the true quails, Coturnix, and the button-quails, Turnix, are outwardly very similar, and therefore often listed together, there are significant differences between them (which is the reason why they are in different family groups here).

Genus	Coturnix	Turnix
Common name	True quails	Button-quails
Similar species	Chicken-like	Wader-like
Toes	4 toes, one of which points backward	3 toes, all of which point forward
Nesting habits	Communal	Non-communal
Main incubator	Female	Male
Incubation period	ca. 21 days	ca. 14 days
No. of eggs	8-12	≤ 4

Nest

"bungobittah", "lar", "malunna", "jindi" [bundjalung] = nest [Aboriginal]

Type: Basket

Material: Grass lining

Height above ground: N/A

Eggs

"boyanga", "booyanga", "derinya", "dirandil", "koomura", "mirk", "ngampu", "nooluk", "pateena", "pum-pum" = Egg; "dirundirri" = eggs [Aboriginal]; "gawu" = eggs [gamilaraay]

Size: 28 x 22 mm

Colour: Creamy with dark-brown speckles

Shape: Tapered oval

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Communal

Mobility: Locally vagrant

Elementary unit: Family clan

Brown Quails can fly, but will usually avoid predators by scurrying away along the ground, into cover. In flight their wings produce the typical whirring sound of quails and button-quails. They will fly up only at the last moment, stunning potential predators with their noisy departure.

As opposed to, e.g., Stubble Quails, we usually observe Brown Quails in family clans of up to about 12 birds.

Brown Quails can often be found feeding along the edges of tall, often rank, grass, including e.g. along the edges of roads
[Eulah Creek, NSW, April 2021]

Find the Brown Quail - example of their great camouflage
[Eulah Creek, NSW, April 2021]

Brown Quail ruffling its feathers, probably after preening (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Eastlakes Golf Course, Sydney, NSW, September 2013]

Food, Diet

Brown Quails can often be found feeding along the edges of tall, often rank, grass, including e.g. along the edges of roads
[Eulah Creek, NSW, April 2021]

Brown Quails stripping seeds off rank grass
[Eulah Creek, NSW, April 2021]

Near-dorsal view of a male Brown Quail nibbling on something edible (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Priors Pocket Road, Moggill, QLD, November 2021]

Brown Quails drinking water (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Diamantina NP, QLD, September 2019]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

brquail_20181112.m4a	australis (NW NSW)	Contact call	© MD
quails_20210102.m4a	(NW NSW)	Contact call (+ Stubble Quail)	© MD
brquail_20210114.m4a	australis (NW NSW)	Contact calls	© MD
brquail_20210102_2.m4a	australis (NW NSW)	Contact calls + warning (+ Stubble Quail)	© MD
brquail_20210127.m4a	(NW NSW)	Warning calls	© MD
brquail_20150831.mp3	australis (NW NSW)	Warning calls + alarm?	© MD
brquail_20210102.m4a	australis (NW NSW)	Alarm/departure (+ Noisy Friarbird)	© MD

We have also recorded the wing beats of Brown Quail.

brquail_20181112_2.m4a	australis (NW NSW)	Departure	© MD
brquail_20180927.m4a	australis (NW NSW)	Pair departure	© MD

More Brown Quail sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site? If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.

Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us: We hereby acknowledge the original custodians of the land which is described on these pages, including the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people of the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW, and the traditional owners of other lands and nations within this country. We acknowledge elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.          Last updated: Mon, 30 January 2023, 19:35 +00:00