The common buttonquail (''Turnix sylvaticus''), also called Kurrichane buttonquail, small buttonquail, or Andalusian hemipode is a

buttonquail Buttonquail or hemipodes are members of a small family of birds, Turnicidae, which resemble, but are unrelated to, the quails of Phasianidae. They inhabit warm grasslands in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Australia. There are 18 species in two genera ...

, one of a small family of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

s which resemble but are unrelated to the true of

quail Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally placed in the order Galliformes. The collective noun for a group of quail is a flock, covey, or bevy. Old World quail are placed in the family Phasianidae, and New Wor ...

Description

The common buttonquail resembles the common quail. It has streaked sandy brown upperparts, buff underparts with black flank markings, and a plain face. In flight, a whitish wingbar contrasts with the grey wing. Sexes are similar, but immature birds are more spotted below. This tiny buttonquail is notoriously difficult to see. It is a small, long drab running bird, which avoids flying.

Distribution and habitat

This species is resident from southern

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

through

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and tropical

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. It inhabits warm grasslands or scrub jungle and feeds on insects and seeds. This species avoids thick forest and hilly country, and lives by preference in cornfields and stretches of grassy plain though it may also be found in any type of low herbage and open scrub jungle. Turnix sylvatica

Behaviour

It skulks and is flushed with difficulty, rising often close by one's feet. When flushed it flies low over the ground and soon settles again, after which it is very difficult to put up a second time. The female calls with a deep ''hoom-hoom-hoom'' and the male replies ''kek-kek-kek''. Turnix sylvaticus Common buttonquail

Breeding

The female initiates courtship and builds the ground nest. The male incubates the normally four speckled greyish eggs, and tends the young, which can run as soon as they are hatched. The

nesting season The nesting season is the time of year during which birds and some other animals, particularly some reptiles, build nests, lay eggs in them, and in most cases bring up their young. It is usually in the spring. Bird conservation Bird conservati ...

is June to September. The nest is a slight pad of grass placed in a natural hollow in the ground where it is usually tucked away amongst the stems of a tuft of grass. Very occasionally the grass is bent over it in a sort of canopy. Turnix sylvaticus MHNT

Conservation

Widespread throughout its large range, the small buttonquail is evaluated as least concern on the

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biologi ...

. However, the nominate subspecies which is distributed in the Mediterranean region is critically endangered. It disappeared from most of its range during the 20th century and is currently only present in Morocco after Spain officially declared the extinction of the species in 2018. This makes it the first bird species to become extinct in Europe since the

Great Auk The great auk (''Pinguinus impennis'') is a species of flightless alcid that became extinct in the mid-19th century. It was the only modern species in the genus ''Pinguinus''. It is not closely related to the birds now known as penguins, wh ...

in 1852. Its name is derived from

Kaditshwene Kaditshwene aka Gaditshweni or Karechuenya, was a South African Iron Age settlement some northeast of the town of Zeerust, North West province. It was the cultural capital of the Bahurutshe people, one of the principal Tswana tribes and a centre ...

(rendered as 'Kurrichane') in

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

. In 2021, the IUCN declared the buttonquail extinct in Europe.

References

External links

*
Common buttonquail or Kurrichane buttonquail Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
* * * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q18836

common buttonquail The common buttonquail (''Turnix sylvaticus''), also called Kurrichane buttonquail, small buttonquail, or Andalusian hemipode is a buttonquail, one of a small family of birds which resemble but are unrelated to the true of quails. Description T ...

Birds of Africa Birds of South Asia Birds of Southeast Asia Birds of China