| Common buttonquail | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Turnicidae |
| Genus: | Turnix |
| Species: | T. sylvaticus |
| Binomial name | |
| Turnix sylvaticus (Desfontaines, 1789) | |
| Synonyms | |
Turnix sylvatica | |
Thecommon buttonquail (Turnix sylvaticus), also calledKurrichane buttonquail andAndalusian hemipode, is abuttonquail, one of a small family ofbirds that resemble but are not closely related to the truequails.
The common buttonquail wasformally described and illustrated in 1789 by the French botanistRené Louiche Desfontaines under thebinomial nameTetrao sylvaticus.[3] The specific epithetsylvaticus isLatin meaning "of the woods".[4] It is now placed in the genusTurnix that was named in 1840 byPierre Joseph Bonnaterre.[5]
Ninesubspecies are recognised:
The common buttonquail resembles thecommon 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, 15 cm (5.9 in) long drab running bird, which avoids flying.[citation needed]
This species is resident from southernSpain andAfrica throughIndia and tropicalAsia toIndonesia. 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.
Itskulks 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 deephoom-hoom-hoom and the male replieskek-kek-kek.
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. Thenesting season 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.[6]
Widespread throughout its large range, the common buttonquail is evaluated as least concern on theIUCN Red List of Threatened Species.[1] 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.[7][8][9] In 2021, the IUCN also declared the common buttonquail extinct in Europe.[1] This makes it the first bird species to have become extinct in Europe since thegreat auk in 1852.
