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1

Stubble Quail (Coturnix pectoralis) Aboriginal name(s): "baraberi" (WA) Size: 17-20 cm Weight: 85-125 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 Stubble Quails are small, plump, chicken-like birds with predominantly dark grey-brown, highly cryptic plumage, with grey streaks and almost no visible tail. The belly is white. Their plumage is dimorphic, i.e. males and females are slightly different. Male Stubble Quails have a rufous throat and a black chest. Female Stubble Quails have a white throat and a boldly streaked breast. Otherwise the sexes are identical, with a white to off-white front with dark streaking and a brown-black back with white, spiny-looking streaks. The irises of both sexes are brown, the legs and feet are yellow; the bill is dark-grey.

Taxonomy, classification See Stubble 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 Stubble Quail is available HERE . Stubble Quails are endemic to Australia. They are mostly found in the south-western corner of WA and the South-East of the Australian continent (NSW and VIC, south-eastern QLD and also south-eastern SA), from where they can - in favourable conditions - disperse into the entire western half of WA and the entire eastern half of the continent, with the exception of Cape York peninsula. There are also Stubble Quails on some islands along Bass Strait, but not in Tasmania. Stubble Quails have a preference for grassland, crops and low shrubland.

Sightings Click here for sighting information B. Hensen reports spotlighting a Stubble Quail at Oolambeyan NP, NSW, in October 2012. We first heard Stubble Quail calling at Eulah Creek in March 2014, followed by another visit in April 2015. On both occasions the birds were not seen, but calls were recorded. They were next heard at the same location in April 2017. Substantial numbers of Stubble Quail are flushed in the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW annually during the grain harvest. During the severe drought of 2018-2019 the species retreated into the Great Dividing Range, to return to inland areas in NSW only after significant rainfall in early 2020, with subsequent lush grass growth. R. Plumtree reports spotting Stubble Quails at Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, in November 2014. M. Eaton spotted Stubble Quails at Lake Samsonvale, QLD, in December 2019. 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 Stubble Quails 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. M. Roderick reports finding large numbers of Stubble Quails along Cattle Lane, near Willowtree, NSW, in February 2023. This is one known site of an irruption from 2020 onwards.

Photos

ADULT

MALE

Near-frontal view of a male Stubble Quail, left, with an immature male on the right (photo courtesy of M. Roderick)
[Cattle Lane, near Willowtree, NSW, February 2023]

Two male Stubble Quails, left and centre, with an immature male on the right (photo courtesy of M. Roderick)
[Cattle Lane, near Willowtree, NSW, February 2023]

Lateral view of two male Stubble Quails - one has a prominent black chest patch, the other doesn't - but the other has the typical dark fringe around the rufous cheeks/throat, which the former lacks (photo courtesy of M. Roderick)
[Cattle Lane, near Willowtree, NSW, February 2023]

Near-dorsal view of a male Stubble Quail (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, November 2014]

Near-dorsal view of a male Stubble Quail (photo courtesy of M. Roderick)
[Cattle Lane, near Willowtree, NSW, February 2023]

Dorsal view of a male Stubble Quail (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lake Samsonvale, QLD, December 2019]

FEMALE

Near-frontal view of a female Stubble Quail - note the absence of black chest patch and rufous cheeks (photo courtesy of M. Roderick)
[Cattle Lane, near Willowtree, NSW, February 2023]

Near-lateral view of a female Stubble Quail (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Oolambeyan NP, NSW, October 2012]

Lateral view of a female Stubble Quail (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Oolambeyan NP, NSW, October 2012]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Near-frontal view of a male Stubble Quail, left, with an immature male on the right (photo courtesy of M. Roderick)
[Cattle Lane, near Willowtree, NSW, February 2023]

Dorsal view of a juvenile Stubble Quail (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Buchan Ensay Road, Ensay East, East Gippsland, VIC, December 2014]

Male Stubble Quail looking at the photographer; the chick is just a few days old (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, November 2014]

Dad Stubble Quail was accidentally disturbed in the process of hay-making while underway with at least four chicks
(photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, November 2014]

Here one Stubble Quail chick appears to be climbing onto dad's back (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, November 2014]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial?

Mobility: Dispersive

Elementary unit: Pair?

As opposed to, e.g., Brown Quails, we usually observe Stubble Quails on their own or in pairs.

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.

stquail_20210102.m4a	(NW NSW)	Contact call (male)	© MD
stquail_20211116.m4a	(NW NSW)	Contact call (male)	© MD
quails_20210102.m4a	(NW NSW)	Contact call (male) (+ Brown Quail)	© MD
stquail_20210102_2.m4a	(NW NSW)	Contact calls males (Q&A)	© MD
stquail_20230212.mp3	(NW NSW)	Contact calls males (Q&A)	© MD
stquail_20230212_2.mp3	(NW NSW)	Contact calls males (Q&A)	© MD
stquail_20230212_3.mp3	(NW NSW)	Contact calls males (Q&A)	© MD

More Stubble 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: Wed, 1 March 2023, 1:08 +00:00