Descriptions of the vocalisations of the Painted Button-quail Turnix varius in North Queensland

Abstract

The Painted Button-quail Turnix varius is a widespread and frequently encountered ground-dwelling bird endemic to Australia. Despite being regularly recorded throughout its distribution, our understanding of this species’ vocalisations is poor. Published accounts are limited to brief descriptions without quantitative analyses in a standardised format. This presents challenges in separating the vocalisations of this species from other similar species, particularly as vocalising button-quail are seldom observed. We recorded the vocalisations of Painted Button-quail from North Queensland. These vocalisations were identified as advertising ooms, drumming and contact calls. These vocalisation types appear analogous to those described for other button-quail species, though some key differences particularly in the advertising oom will likely prove diagnostic. Here we present descriptions and visual representations of each of these vocalisation types.