A review of specimens of Buff-breasted Button-quail Turnix olivii suggests serious concern for its conservation outlook

ABSTRACT

The Buff-breasted Button-quail Turnix olivii is arguably the rarest, most threatened bird species in Australia. Despite many reports over the last four decades, the species has never been reliably photographed nor its vocalisations definitively recorded. No records in contemporary literature are supported irrefutably. Consequently, examining historical museum specimens of skins and eggs is critical to ascertain the species’ distribution and autecology, understand potential threatening processes, and ultimately determine the species’ conservation status. We review all known specimens of Buff-breasted Button-quail and contextual information where available. Current literature suggests the holotype was collected in 1899, while the last collected specimens (six skins, four clutches of eggs) were collected by William Rae McLennan near Coen in 1921 and 1922. We found a total of 15 specimens: seven skins and eight clutches of eggs. Two specimens collected by McLennan previously documented as ‘missing’ were located in the Natural History Museum, Tring. An additional four clutches of eggs not previously reported were located. Two represented verified specimens while the other two require further analysis to determine identity. All specimens were collected in the Cape York Peninsula bioregion. There are no specimens from the more southern Wet Tropics and Einasleigh Uplands bioregions, where the majority of contemporary observations have been made. As there have been no verified specimens collected for nearly a century, we argue that considerable concern and urgent action are warranted to improve the conservation outlook of this species. The species should be listed as critically endangered in both state and federal legislation.

KEYWORDS:

• Threatened species
• Button-quail
• Turnix olivii
• Museum specimens
• Buff-breasted Button-quail
• Cape York Peninsula avifauna

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands where this work was undertaken. The research for this paper was greatly assisted by access to museum specimens, which was facilitated by Leah Tsang, Ricky-Lee Erickson, Mark Adams, Douglas Russell, Paul Sweet, Thomas Trombone and the Port Douglas Shire Council. Valuable comments on the manuscript were received from Emily Rush, Nigel Jackett, Ian Mason, and three anonymous reviewers; the authors are grateful for the contributions made by these individuals. Funding for this research was provided by the Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Program, the University of Queensland and the Conservation Wildlife Research Trust.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).