Black-breasted quail
| Black-breasted quail | ||||||||
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Black-breasted quail |
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| Coturnix pectoralis | ||||||||
| Gould , 1837 |
The black breasted quail ( Coturnix pectoralis ) is a species of the earth quail that belongs exclusively to the avifauna of Australia .
The stock situation of the black-breasted quail is given as harmless ( least concern ). No subspecies are distinguished.
Appearance
anatomy
The black-breasted quail reaches a body length of 16 to 20 centimeters and a wing span between 25 and 33 centimeters. The tail plumage accounts for around 3.3 centimeters of the body length. Their weight is between 75 and 125 grams. There is little gender dimorphism .
male
The forehead, crown and neck are gray-brown with black spots. A white line runs down the middle of the head, a white stripe over the eyes extends to the back of the neck. The rear neck is spotted black and fine white dashed. The face, cheeks, ear covers, chin and throat are bright orange in color. The throat is also bordered by black spots. A fine white line runs from the base of the beak to under the eye. The rest of the top of the body is gray-brown with black spots and cream-colored dashes.
The underside of the body is white with a shade of brown on the sides of the body and dense black dashes on the front neck, chest, flanks and belly. In the middle of the chest there is a black spot, which is individually different in size and shape. The beak is dark gray, the iris is reddish brown, the legs and feet are light pink.
female
The females resemble the males, the face, chin and throat are cream in color with an indistinct brown streak of eyes and a dark streak of beard. The chin and throat are mottled dark. The front neck, chest and flanks are dashed black on a cream background. The chest mark is missing on them. The brown tone on the lower sides of the body is not that intense. The belly, the rump and the under tail-coverts are white.
Fledglings
Young birds are initially much smaller than the adult birds, do not yet have any conspicuous tail plumage and the downy plumage can still be seen on the head. Slightly older young birds initially resemble the female, but have a broad band of black-brown spots that runs across the chest. From the fifth week of life, the sexes can be determined by means of the plumage: the male young birds then have a light orange-brown face and are similarly feathered on the chin and throat.
Possible confusion
There is a possibility of confusion with the five Australian run chicken species , which only occur in very small areas on the Australian mainland.
Distribution area and habitat
The black-breasted quail occurs widely in Australia. The main areas of distribution are the east and the south. It is only missing in Northern Australia. It was originally found all over Tasmania, but has now largely disappeared there, although it was placed under protection there in the 1940s. A part of the population are resident birds, another part migrates undirected depending on the food supply. So it is occasionally seen in the Nullarbor Plain , although this plain with its arid to semi-arid climate has only a sparse flora and therefore usually does not offer a suitable habitat for this quail.
The black-breasted quail has benefited from the expansion of agricultural areas, where forests have been cut down and irrigation systems have been created. It is now a resident bird in the Atherton Tablelands , where it used to be rare, and has been a common bird in Western Australia since the 1930s , where wheat cultivation was very high. There are no reports of the presence of this species for this Australian state prior to 1901.
The black-breasted quail's habitats are grasslands and scrubland in temperate to tropical Australia. It occurs preferentially in regions with higher rainfall and sufficient ground vegetation, but after rainfall and flooding it also expands its habitat into the arid regions of Australia. It prefers areas with 25 to 50 centimeters high ground vegetation and is accordingly also found on stubble fields, rice fields and cereal fields, if the latter has only sparsely sprouted. In salt marshes it can be found in the transition zone to the adjacent grassland. This species avoids dense forests, but inhabits forest clearings.
Way of life
The black-breasted quail lives solitary, in pairs or in small groups. Their presence stands out mainly because of their reputation. Troubled black-breasted quail usually seek closer cover on foot; they only fly open when there is immediate danger. Soaring black-breasted quail produce a whirring instrumental sound with their wings .
The black-breasted quail is diurnal and mainly eats seeds.
Reproduction
The standard breeding seasons for black-breasted quail are August to March in New South Wales , September to November in Victoria , August to January in Western Australia and September to December in South Australia . The breeding season of the black-breasted quail varies depending on rainfall, vegetation density and availability of food. In dry years broods are delayed and may even fail completely. On the other hand, it is expanded in years with higher amounts of precipitation and correspondingly greater vegetation density and food supply. In a few years black-breasted quails raise up to four broods. In years with a strong increase in rodents , despite otherwise good conditions, the number of broods and reared young birds can remain low because the birds then have a reduced food supply.
The nest is a shallow hollow in the ground, laid out with dry grass, which is usually built under tufts of grass or low shrubs. The clutch can contain up to 14 eggs. The eggs are laid one day apart. Only the female breeds and starts the breeding business as soon as the clutch is complete. The chicks, which are among the so-called fleeing nest and weigh between 15 and 18 grams when hatched, hatch synchronously and are immediately led away from the nest by the female. They are about two-thirds the size of adult birds by seven weeks of age and show the full plumage of adult birds by 16 weeks of age.
Black breasted quail and human
- In the Australian state of Victoria, between half a million and a million black-breasted quail were shot annually in the 1930s. It belongs to this day in the states of Queensland , New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia for game birds .
- The red foxes and house cats introduced by European settlers are among the main predators of the black-breasted quail.
- There have been attempts to introduce the black-breasted quail to both Hawaii and New Zealand. Both attempts to introduce failed.
literature
- PJ Higgins (Ed.): Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds , Volume 2, Raptors to Lapwings, Oxford University Press, Oxford 1993, ISBN 0-19-553069-1 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Handbook of the Birds of the World on Black Breast Quail accessed on June 4, 2017.
- ↑ a b Higgins (Ed.): Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds . Volume 2, p. 390.
- ↑ Higgins (Ed.): Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds . Volume 2, p. 400.
- ↑ a b c Higgins (Ed.): Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds . Volume 2, p. 391.
- ↑ a b c d e Higgins (Ed.): Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds . Volume 2, p. 392.
- ↑ Higgins (Ed.): Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds . Volume 2, p. 393.
- ↑ a b c Higgins (Ed.): Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds . Volume 2, p. 397.