Black-breasted Buttonquail

1. Females have a black head and breast with fine white spotting.

2. Look for their signature circular feeding scrapes in leaf litter – their most visible calling card.

3. Listen for the female's low, tremulous booming call after rainy periods.

These birds are fascinating as females are larger, more colourful, and court multiple males, while males incubate the eggs and raise the chicks alone. They breed mainly from August to February, often after heavy rainfall. Males create simple grass-lined scrapes for nests, typically hidden at the base of trees or ferns. Their habitat has become fragmented, making them increasingly uncommon.

Black-breasted Buttonquails inhabit *scattered patches* of southeastern Queensland’s rainforests, dry forest, and coastal scrub with abundant leaf litter on the ground where they tend to forage. Dawn and dusk offer the best opportunities, though they remain active throughout the day. Rather than watching for the birds themselves, which freeze when disturbed, look for their characteristic circular feeding scrapes – small platelets where they've pivoted on one foot while raking leaves with the other. Follow clusters of these platelets to potentially spot these elusive birds.