Hottentot Buttonquail ( Turnix hottentottus, family: Turnicidae)
Custom Search
|
Birds & Birding in the Kruger National Park South Africa. In Roberts 6 this bird was called Black-rumped Buttonquail
The Hottentot Buttonquail (Latin name Turnix hottentottus) is described
in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique
Roberts number of 206 and you will find a full description of this bird
on page 121 also a picture of the Hottentot Buttonquail on page 320. The
Hottentot Buttonquail belongs to the family of birds classified as
Turnicidae.
In the previous edition of Roberts (ie 6th edition) the Hottentot Buttonquail was called the Black-rumped Buttonquail
The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps
The Hottentot Buttonquail is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.
In terms of distribution of the Hottentot Buttonquail in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Hottentot Buttonquail : see above distribution map.
Identification assistance for this avian species ...
One of the first indicators to take note of when trying to identify a bird is it relative size. For example how big is the bird compared to a well known familiar bird. The Hottentot Buttonquail is a small bird about the size of a house sparrow. Do not take this relative indicator as anything other than a rough easy to remember indicator. It is not a accurate visualization. The height of the Hottentot Buttonquail is about 15 cms and its weight is about 40 gms
The male and female Hottentot Buttonquail have the same plumage and colours
- Head is black.
- Eye is yellow.
- Bill is grey.
- Throat is black.
- Back is black.
- Legs are yellow.
This bird has normally proportioned leg length.
Main diet items for this bird ...
Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...
The Hottentot Buttonquail takes on more than a single mate (it is bigamous).
The nesting habit of Hottentot Buttonquail is to create the nest on the ground. The bird lays eggs which are grey in colour and number between 2 to 5
Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...
The preferred habitats for Hottentot Buttonquail are: mountainous regions
You will normally see the Hottentot Buttonquail by itself rather than in the company of birds of the same species.
Names of this avian species in other languages ...
Xhosa ... Unknown
Zulu ... isiGwaca
Afrikaans ...Kaapse Kwarteltjie
German ... Hottentottenlaufhhnchen
Portuguese ... Toiro-hotentote
French ... Turnix hottentot
Dutch ... Hottentotvechtkwartel
First bird in list | Previous bird viewed | Next KNP bird | Last bird in list
For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...
Robert's 7th edition number ... 206
The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za