Black-breasted Buttonquail
The Black-breasted Buttonquail (Turnix melanogaster) is a rare buttonquail endemic to eastern Australia, where it is usually found in rainforest. Like other buttonquails, it is unrelated to the true quails. Both sexes have marbled black, rufous, pale brown and white plumage, but the female is larger than the male and has a more extensive black face and chin.
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| Black-breasted Buttonquail |
image source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Aviceda
Taxonomy
The Black-breasted Buttonquail was originally described by ornithologist John Gould in 1837. Its specific epithet is derived from the Ancient Greek terms melano- "black", and gaster "belly". Along with other buttonquails, the Black-breasted Buttonquail was traditionally placed in the order Gruiformes, but more recent molecular analysis shows it belongs to an ancient lineage of shorebirds (Charadriiformes).
