Buttonquail

The buttonquails or Hemipodes are a small family of birds which resemble, but are unrelated to, the true quails.

The buttonquails are traditionally placed in the crane or pheasant orders, but the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy elevated them to ordinal status as the Turniciformes.

This is an Old World group, which inhabits warm grasslands.

These are small drab running birds, which avoid flying. The female is the brighter of the sexes, and initiates courtship. The male incubates the eggs and tends the young.

All but one of the 15 species are in the genus Turnix.

• ORDER TURNICIFORMES
  • Family Turnicidae
    • Small Buttonquail, or Andalusian Hemipode, Turnix sylvatica
    • Philippine Buttonquail, Turnix wocesteri
    • Natal Buttonquail, Turnix nana
    • Hottentot Buttonquail, Turnix hottentotta
    • Yellow-legged Buttonquail, Turnix tanki
    • Barred Buttonquail, Turnix suscitator
    • Madagascar Buttonquail, Turnix nigricollis
    • Spotted Buttonquail, Turnix oclellata
    • Black-breasted Buttonquail, Turnix melanogaster
    • Painted Buttonquail, Turnix varia
    • Chestnut-backed Buttonquail, Turnix castanota
    • Red-chested Buttonquail, Turnix pyrrhothorax
    • Red-backed Buttonquail, Turnix maculosa
    • Little Buttonquail, Turnix velox
    • Lark Quail, Ortyxelos meiffrenii