Barred Buttonquail / Burung Puyuh Tanah

 

Despite 'quail,'  these birds are only distantly related to true quail.  Genetic analysis tells us their closest relatives are actually the shorebirds- sandpipers and plovers. 

Living up to its name- behind bars?


Barred buttonquail are found from India to the Philippines and from China to Indonesia.  Their conservation status is “least concern,” indicating that they are fairly common throughout their range. Nevertheless, they are “extremely difficult to detect, moving about invisibly in dense weedy vegetation.” (eBird)

Gender roles are reversed in these birds. Females are larger and more colourful, initiate courtship and fight amongst themselves for males. A female  produces “a loud drumming drr-r-r-r-r as a challenge to rival hens and also to announce herself to a cock.”  (Wikipedia )  Males incubate the eggs and care for the precocial hatchlings.  Meanwhile the female has acquired a new ‘husband’ and has laid another clutch of eggs.  Accordingly, there is no particular nesting season as such; nests, eggs and hatchlings can be found throughout the year.

Video: https://youtu.be/pO81-tcVtxA

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