Buttonquails

The family TURNICIDAE comprises seventeen Buttonquails in the genus Turnix; and one Quail-Plover in its own genus – Ortyxelos.

Family: TURNICIDAE (Gray 1840).

Genera:

  • Turnix – Greek; Abbreviation of Coturnix meaning quail (Bonnaterre 1791).
  • Ortyxelos –  Greek; ortux quail; helos marsh (Vieillot 1825).

Distribution

  • Europe; Common Buttonquail.
  • Asia; Common, Red-backed, Yellow-legged, Spotted, Barred, Sumba, and Luzon Buttonquail.
  • Africa; Common, Black-rumped, Hottentot and Madagascar Buttonquail and Quail-Plover.
  • Australasia; Red-backed, Black-breasted, New Caledonia, Painted, Buff-breasted, Chestnut-backed, Red-chested and Little Buttonquail.

Current Taxonomy: Morphological analyses placed the Turnicidae in the suborder Charadrii, however recent molecular phylogenetic studies, have indicated it would be better placed in the sub order Lari where it is likely to be accompanied by the Dromadidae (Crab-plover) and Turnicidae (buttonquails). More detail here. The new thinking on the suborder is as follows;

Past Taxonomy: Until recently the Buttonquails have been considered part of the order Gruiformes but studies showed that they are more closely related to waders and so were moved to the Charadriiformes and part of the Charadrii. They have subsequently been moved to Lari (gulls and allies).

Bibliography

  • BirdLife International: IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 26/03/2020
  • del Hoyo, Josep, Andrew Elliot & Jordi Sargatal: Handbook of the Birds of the World – Vol. 3 (1996)
  • Hayman, Peter, John Marchant & Tony Prater: Shorebirds – An identification guide to the waders of the world (1986)
  • Jobling, James A.: Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names (2010)
  • Seebohm, Henry: The Geographical Distribution of the Family Charadriidae, or, The Plovers, Sandpipers, Snipes, and Their Allies (1888)

Click on an image for more information about the individual species.

BARRED BUTTONQUAIL
Least Concern
BLACK-BREASTED BUTTONQUAIL
Near Threatened
BLACK-RUMPED BUTTONQUAIL
Least Concern
BUFF-BREASTED BUTTONQUAIL
Endangered
CHESTNUT-BACKED BUTTONQUAIL
Least Concern
COMMON BUTTONQUAIL
Least Concern
FYNBOS BUTTONQUAIL
Endangered
LITTLE BUTTONQUAIL
Least Concern
LUZON BUTTONQUAIL
Status Unknown
MADAGASCAN BUTTONQUAIL
Least Concern
NEW CALEDONIAN BUTTONQUAIL
Critically Endangered
PAINTED BUTTONQUAIL
Least Concern
RED-BACKED BUTTONQUAIL
Least Concern
RED-CHESTED BUTTONQUAIL
Least Concern
SPOTTED BUTTONQUAIL
Least Concern
SUMBA BUTTONQUAIL
Vulnerable
YELLOW-LEGGED BUTTONQUAIL
Least Concern
QUAIL-PLOVER
Least Concern

Shopping Basket
Scroll to Top