Descriptions of the vocalisations of the Chestnut-backed Button-quail Turnix castanotus

Abstract

Button-quail (Turnicidae) are a greatly understudied family of birds; their cryptic habits make studying them in the wild challenging. They are known to be quite vocal which could assist with detectability, and so it follows that survey results will be more reliable as knowledge about button-quail vocal repertoire increases. Until recently, there were no published vocal recordings of the Chestnut-backed Button-quail Turnix castanotus, and descriptions and accounts of this species’ vocalisations were limited. We recorded vocalisations of Chestnut-backed Button-quail at six locations across the Northern Territory and Western Australia. Three broad vocalisation types were identified: advertising ooms, drumming, and contact calls. We present descriptions and visual representations of these vocalisations, and draw comparisons with previously published accounts of this species, and other Australian button-quail.