Overview
A typical little buttonquail, rufous-brown above, rusty and buff below. Chin, throat and breast closely barred with black. Female larger and more richly coloured, with throat and middle of breast black. The blue-grey bill and legs, and yellowish white eyes are diagnostic, as are also the pale buff shoulder-patches on the wings when in flight. Pairs, in scrub and grassland.
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Bird
- Family
- Turnicidae
- Genus
- Turnix
- Species
- suscitator
Habitat
Found in most habitats except dense forest and desert, in particular, scrub jungle, light deciduous forest and farmlands.
Diet
Seeds and insects.
Behavior
The female is the brighter of the sexes, initiates courtship and builds the ground nest. She fights with other females for the possession of a cock, uttering a loud drumming drr-r-r-r-r as a challenge to rival hens and also to announce herself to a cock. Eggs when laid are left to be incubated by the cock who also tends the young, which can run as soon as they are hatched. The hen goes off to acquire another husband, and perhaps yet another, and so on, evidently only one at a time. Breeds practically throughout the year, varying locally. Nest is a grass-lined scrape or depression in scrub jungle or crops, often arched over by surrounding grass. Lays 3-4 eggs, greyish white profusely speckled with reddish brown or blackish purple.
Hunting
Hunted across its range.
Conservation Status
Listed as Least Concern by IUCN.