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8

Black-breasted Button-quail

(Turnix melanogaster)
Size: 16.5-19 cm (female larger than male)
Weight: 50-85 g (male), 80-120 g (female)
Description         Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description

Click here for a physical description

Taxonomy, classification

See Black-breasted Button-quail at Wikipedia .

Click here for classification information

Range, habitat, finding this species

Click here for information on habitat and range

Sightings

Click here for sighting information

Photos

ADULT

MALE

Frontal view of an adult male Black-breasted Button-quail; note the vermiculated sides of the head (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[D'Aguilar NP, near Brisbane, QLD, January 2023]

Lateral view of an adult male Black-breasted Button-quail (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[D'Aguilar NP, near Brisbane, QLD, January 2023]

Lateral view of an adult male Black-breasted Button-quail foraging in dark undergrowth (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[D'Aguilar NP, near Brisbane, QLD, January 2023]

FEMALE

Full-frontal view of a female Black-breasted Button-quail; note the characteristic black head (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[D'Aguilar NP, near Brisbane, QLD, January 2023]

Lateral view of a female Black-breasted Button-quail (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[D'Aguilar NP, near Brisbane, QLD, January 2023]

Lateral view of a female Black-breasted Button-quail (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[D'Aguilar NP, near Brisbane, QLD, January 2023]

Lateral view of a female Black-breasted Button-quail foraging in dark undergrowth (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[D'Aguilar NP, near Brisbane, QLD, January 2023]

Lateral view of a partly obscured adult female Black-breasted Button-quail; note the characteristic black head
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Inskip Point, QLD, January 2013]

Behaviour

Like other species of button-quails, Black-breasted Button-quails create "platelets". These are bare patches on the ground that are caused by the birds' scratching in mulch or leaf litter while turning around a point of interest in search of food.

Near-lateral view of a female Black-breasted Button-quail foraging in leaf litter (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[D'Aguilar NP, near Brisbane, QLD, January 2023]

Typical Black-breasted Button-quail platelet, i.e. a scrape mould foraging in dark undergrowth (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[D'Aguilar NP, near Brisbane, QLD, January 2023]

Black-breasted Button-quail platelet (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mungoberry Vine Forest Reserve, Dundowran Beach, Hervey Bay, QLD, May 2018]

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.

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