Abrolhos painted buttonquail explained

The Abrolhos painted buttonquail (Turnix varius scintillans) is a subspecies of the painted buttonquail endemic to the Houtman Abrolhos. It is common on North Island, and also occurs on other islands of the Wallabi Group, namely East Wallabi, West Wallabi, Seagull and Pigeon Islands.^[1]

Taxonomy

The first recorded sighting of the bird by Europeans was during the third voyage of HMS Beagle. On 22 May 1840, the crew of the ship landed at North Island, which John Lort Stokes described thus:^[2] Five years later, the subspecies was formally published by John Gould.^[3]

Description

It lives amongst dunes and sand flats covered with Spinifex, saltbush and samphire, and avoids areas of limestone pavement. It obtains food such as insects and seeds by scratching in the surface soil, but also will collect scraps it can find.^[4] It breeds from April to October. Its nest is a scrape in loose soil about ten centimetres wide and two centimetres deep, beneath vegetation. The species matures at one year and has a longevity of nine years.^[1]

Conservation status

In 2003 it was assessed as "fauna which is rare, or likely to become extinct" under the WA Wildlife Conservation Act 1950. Islands where it breeds are considered to have a high conservation value. Rats and cats have been introduced to the ecosystem which may pose a threat to the population.^[5]

A 2018 study ranked it fifth in a list of Australian birds most likely to go extinct.^[6]

the subspecies is listed as "vulnerable" under the federal EPBC Act (last updated 16 July 2000, due for reassessment 30 October 2022), and endangered under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (WA).^[7]

Notes and References

1. Storr, G. M. . Johnstone, R. E. . Griffin, P. . 1986 . Birds of the Houtman Abholhos, Western Australia . Records of the Western Australian Museum . Supplement No. 24.
2. Book: Stokes, John Lort . 1846 . Discoveries in Australia, Volume 2 . T. and W. Boone . London . 2007-11-18.
3. Gould . John . May 27, 1845 . Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London . 1844 . pt.12-15 (1844-1847) . 62 . 17 November 2023 . Academic Press, [etc.].
4. G. M. . Storr . Glen Storr . 1965 . The physiography, vegetation and vertebrate fauna of the Wallabi Group, Houtman Abrolhos . . 48 . 1–14.
5. Inventory of the Land Conservation Values of the Houtman Abrolhos Islands . October 2003 . Fisheries Management Paper No. 151 . 0819-4327 . Department of Fisheries, Government of Western Australia . 20 March 2020.
6. Geyle . Hayley M. . Woinarski . John C. Z. . Baker . G. Barry . Dickman . Chris R. . Dutson . Guy . Fisher . Diana O. . Ford . Hugh . Holdsworth . Mark . Jones . Menna E. . Kutt . Alex . Legge . Sarah . Leiper . Ian . Loyn . Richard . Murphy . Brett P. . Menkhorst . Peter . Reside . April E. . Ritchie . Euan G. . Roberts . Finley E. . Tingley . Reid . Garnett . Stephen T.. 2 . Quantifying extinction risk and forecasting the number of impending Australian bird and mammal extinctions . . 24 . 2 . 20 April 2018 . 2204-4604 . 10.1071/PC18006 . 157–167 . 11 July 2022. free . 10536/DRO/DU:30109156 . free . PDF
7. Web site: Petauroides volans - Greater Glider (southern and central) . Species Profile and Threats Database. . 11 July 2022.