Brown quail | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Galliformes |
Family: | Phasianidae |
Genus: | Synoicus |
Species: | S. ypsilophorus |
Binomial name | |
Synoicus ypsilophorus (Bosc, 1792) | |
Synonyms | |
Coturnix ypsilophoraBosc, 1792 [2] |
The brown quail (Synoicus ypsilophorus), also known as the swamp quail, silver quail and Tasmanian quail, is an Australasian true quail of the family Phasianidae. It is a small, ground-dwelling bird and is native to mainland Australia, Tasmania and Papua New Guinea and has been introduced to New Zealand and Fiji. Widespread and common throughout its large range, the brown quail is evaluated as being of "least concern" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Although previously classified in the genus Coturnix , phylogenetic analyses have found it to form a monophyletic grouping with several other quail species, all of which have since been grouped in the genus Synoicus . It is thought to be the sister species to the Snow Mountain quail (S. monorthonyx), which was previously classified in the genus Anurophasis . [3] [4] [5]
The following subspecies are recognised: [6]
The brown quail is a plump, stocky bird which can grow up to a length of 17 to 22 centimetres (6+1⁄2 to 8+1⁄2 in) and weight of 75 to 140 grams (2+3⁄4 to 5 oz). The colour is quite variable over the bird's wide range. The male is reddish-brown speckled with black on the head and upper neck and mainly reddish-brown on back and wings. The underparts range from buff or rufous to brown, but always with fine black chevron-shaped barring. The tail is short, dark brown with yellowish barring. The female is similar but rather paler. There are small black spots on the shoulder of the female and the upperparts are barred with dark chevron-shaped markings. [7]
The voice consists of a variety of shrill calls with which the birds communicate as they move through dense vegetation. [8] One call is a double whistle, the latter note ascending. [9] [10]
The brown quail is distributed in agricultural areas, wet grasslands, shrublands, spinifex savannah, and freshwater wetlands across much of New Guinea and the Lesser Sunda Islands as well as in northern, eastern, south-eastern and south-western Australia and Tasmania, though absent from arid regions. This species has been introduced to Fiji and New Zealand. In Australia it is mostly a lowland species but in New Zealand it is found at elevations up to 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) and in New Guinea up to 3,700 metres (12,000 ft). [7] It was introduced to New Zealand in the 1860s and 1870s and is now present in North Island and certain offshore islands. This introduction, and other quail introductions that failed to establish, may have played a part in the demise of the New Zealand quail, an endemic species that became extinct shortly afterwards, possibly because of a lack of resistance to some new disease. [8]
The brown quail is a ground-dwelling bird that prefers to hide or run rather than fly. It is found in small groups and feeds on grasses, seeds, shoots and small invertebrates. If the group is startled and take to the air, the birds scatter by flying in different directions, regrouping when the danger has passed. [7]
Brown quails form breeding pairs in the spring. There is an extended breeding season with clutches of half a dozen or more eggs being laid in a shallow scraped nest lined with grasses on the ground, often concealed in a grass tussock or shrubby bush. These are incubated by the female for the three-week incubation period. The newly hatched chicks are precocial and are cared for by both parents for a while, with the male taking on the caring role after two weeks to allow the female to start on the next clutch of eggs. [7]
The brown quail has a very wide range and is common in much of that range. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of "least concern". Although the population has not been quantified, and may be declining slightly, it does not seem to be at such a rate as to warrant listing the species in a more threatened category. [1]
The Kunwinjku people of western Arnhem Land call this bird djirndih, djiribbidj or merhmerh (all quails). [11] [9] [10]
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.
Coturnix is a genus of five extant species and five to eight known extinct species of Old World quail.
The wandering whistling duck is a species of whistling duck. They inhabit tropical and subtropical Australia, the Philippines, Borneo, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the Pacific Islands.
The king quail, also known as the blue-breasted quail, Asian blue quail, Chinese painted quail, or Chung-Chi, is a species of Old World quail in the family Phasianidae. This species is the smallest "true quail", ranging in the wild from southern China, South and Southeast Asia to Oceania, south to southeastern Australia, with 9 different subspecies. A failed attempt was made to introduce this species to New Zealand by the Otago Acclimatisation Society in the late 1890s. It is quite common in aviculture worldwide, where it is sometimes misleadingly known as the "button quail", which is the name of an only very distantly related family of birds, the buttonquails.
The Snow Mountain quail, is a roughly 28-cm-long (11 in), dark brown quail of alpine grasslands. It was formerly considered the only member of the genus Anurophasis, but phylogenetic analysis places it as the sister species to the brown quail in the genus Synoicus. It has heavily marked brown plumage, a pale yellow bill, yellow legs and a brown iris. The underparts of the female are whitish and more distinctly barred black than in the male.
The Sahul brush cuckoo, formerly known as the brush cuckoo, is a member of the cuckoo family. It is native to Malesia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and northern and eastern Australia. It is a grey-brown bird with a buff breast. Its call is a familiar sound of the Australian and Indonesian bush.
The orange-footed scrubfowl, also known as orange-footed megapode or just scrubfowl, is a small megapode of the family Megapodiidae native to many islands in the Lesser Sunda Islands as well as southern New Guinea and northern Australia.
The buff-banded rail is a distinctively coloured, highly dispersive, medium-sized rail of the rail family, Rallidae. This species comprises several subspecies found throughout much of Australasia and the south-west Pacific region, including the Philippines, New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, and numerous smaller islands, covering a range of latitudes from the tropics to the subantarctic.
The stubble quail is a native Australian species which is the most common quail species in Australia. The species is not under any threat of extinction. Stubble quail are widespread and found throughout all states and territories of Australia excluding Tasmania. Other common names include grey quail and pectoral quail.
The New Zealand quail, or koreke in Māori, is an extinct quail species endemic to New Zealand. The male and female were similar, except the female was lighter. The first scientist to describe it was Sir Joseph Banks when he visited New Zealand on James Cook's first voyage. Terrestrial and temperate, this species inhabited lowland tussock grassland and open fernlands. The first specimen to be obtained by a European was collected in 1827 by Jean René Constant Quoy and Joseph Paul Gaimard on Dumont D'Urville's voyage. It most likely went extinct due to diseases from introduced game birds.
The brown goshawk is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae found in Australia and surrounding islands. This species was formerly placed in the genus Accipiter.
The agile wallaby, also known as the sandy wallaby, is a species of wallaby found in northern Australia and southern New Guinea. It is the most common wallaby in north Australia. The agile wallaby is a sandy colour, becoming paler below. It is sometimes solitary and at other times sociable and grazes on grasses and other plants. The agile wallaby is not considered threatened.
The blue quail or African blue quail is a species of bird in the family Phasianidae found in sub-Saharan Africa.
The white-bellied cuckooshrike is a species of bird in the family Campephagidae. It is found in Australia, the Moluccas, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
The snowy-browed flycatcher is a species of bird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae.
Old World quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds in the tribe Coturnicini of the pheasant family Phasianidae. Although all species commonly referred to as "Old World quail" are in the same tribe, they are paraphyletic with respect to the other members of the tribe, such as Alectoris, Tetraogallus, Ammoperdix, Margaroperdix, and Pternistis.
The variable goshawk is a bird of prey native to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. It was recently elevated to species status, and was previously lumped together with the grey goshawk. This species was formerly placed in the genus Accipiter.
Synoicus is a genus of 4 species of Old World quail.