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. Both sexes have marbled black, rufous, pale brown and white plumage, but the female is larger than the male and has a more extensive black face and chin.

Taxonomy

The Black-breasted Buttonquail was originally described by ornithologist John Gould in 1837. Its specific epithet is derived from the Ancient Greek terms melano- "black", and gaster "belly". Along with other buttonquails, the Black-breasted Buttonquail was traditionally placed in the order Gruiformes, but more recent molecular analysis shows it belongs to an ancient lineage of shorebirds (Charadriiformes).

Description

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 female makes a low-pitched oom call.

Distribution and habitat

The Black-breasted Buttonquail is found from Hervey Bay in central Queensland south to the northeastern corner of New South Wales. It is rare and its habitat fragmented. It is found in rainforest and nearby areas, as well as Hoop Pine (Araucaria cunninghamii) plantations, and lantana thickets.

Conservation status

The species is currently classified as vulnerable; most of the Black-breasted Buttonquail's original habitat has been cleared and the remaining populations are fragmented. The population has been estimated at 5000 breeding birds and declining.

Breeding

The usual sex roles are reversed in the buttonquail genus, as the larger and more brightly coloured female mates with multiple male partners and leaves them to incubate the eggs. One or two broods are probably laid each year; the nest is a shallow depression scraped out of the leaf litter and ground, lined with dried vegetation. Three or four shiny grey-white or buff eggs splotched with dark brown-black and lavender are laid measuring 28 mm x 23 mm.