Overview
The yellow-legged buttonquail is a small quail. The tail is short and the wings have rounded ends. The adult male has a black crown with a buff margin, and sometimes a buff central streak. The front and side of the head are buff, the individual feathers having black tips. The throat is pale buff, darkening to reddish-buff at the edges and on the breast, and paling again on the belly, becoming white at the under tail coverts. The sides of the breast are scattered with round black spots. The nape and upper parts of the body and tail are greyish-brown, with reddish and dark brown vermiculations and spotting. The main wing feathers are blackish-brown with buff margins, and the wing coverts are buff with dark spots. The beak is dull yellow, the irises whitish, and the legs and feet deep yellow. The adult female differs from the male in being a richer colour and in having a broad, reddish-brown collar round the back of the neck. The spots and vermiculations on the back and tail are not so dark, the beak and legs are brighter yellow, and the irises are creamy white or yellowish-brown. In non-breeding plumage, the rufous collar of the female becomes mixed with grey and the other plumage also become greyer. The juvenile is similar to the male in appearance but has dingier plumage, a less vivid breast colour and more fine speckling.
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Bird
- Family
- Turnicidae
- Genus
- Turnix
- Species
- tanki
Habitat
Adaptable, inhabiting diverse habitats across its endemic range.
Diet
Seeds and insects.
Behavior
This species is ground-dwelling and usually runs away from danger rather than taking to the air. It is generally seen singly or in pairs. In most of its range it is a resident species, but it migrates to the drier parts of India in the wet season, and similarly to the southeastern part of Russia, making its journeys by night. Breeding takes place between March and November, mostly in the wet season. The nest is a scoop in the ground lined with grasses and often roofed with bent-down plant stems, having an entrance at the side. A clutch of four greyish-white, blotched eggs is laid and these are incubated by the male alone; they hatch after twelve to sixteen days and the chicks are cared for by the male. After her eggs are laid, the female moves off and selects another mate, with whom she lays another clutch of eggs in a different nest.
Hunting
Hunted indigenously.
Conservation Status
Listed as Least Concern by IUCN.