• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic source(s)
Christidis, L. and Boles, W.E. 2008. Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Australia.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	C2a(ii)

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2022	Vulnerable	C2a(ii)
2016	Near Threatened	B1b(i)
2012	Near Threatened	B1ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v)+2ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v)
2008	Vulnerable	B1a+b(ii,iii,iv,v)
2007	Vulnerable
2004	Vulnerable
2000	Vulnerable
1996	Endangered
1994	Endangered
1988	Threatened

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	medium
Land-mass type	Australia	Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	85,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	3000-6500, 4800 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2020
Population trend	decreasing	poor	inferred	2016-2026
Generation length	3.3 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	1	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	100%	-	-	-

Population justification: The population structure of the species is poorly known and difficult to estimate given the nature of the species, with densities considered especially difficult to generate. In 2011, using survey data and estimations of available habitat, expert elicitation concluded there were 5,000±1,700 mature individuals. This was upheld by Webster et al. (2021) on the basis that no more rigorous estimate has been generated in the interim. Given inferred declines, it is possible that the best estimate is now slightly fewer than 5,000 mature individuals. To account for this, Webster et al. (2021) applied an approximate trend correction and suggested a best estimate of 4,800, with a range of 3,000-6,500, and this is followed here.

Trend justification: A continuing decline is inferred due to habitat degradation as a result of ongoing weed invasion, drought, fire and habitat clearance for agriculture (Webster et al. 2021). The incursion of Panicum maximum is considered a serious issue, with fires enabling the invasive species to get a foothold and incrementally render habitat unsuitable (M. Mathieson in litt. 2022). This ongoing degradation of habitat has directly caused the local extinction of T. melanogaster at several sites. For example: a small remnant patch of softwood scrub (Birdwood Scrub Gowrie) had the species regularly in the 1990s and early 2000s but repeated visits in 2020 and 2021 failed to locate a single individual, a fact attributed to recent proliferation of Anredera cordifolia  and Asparagus aethiopicus, while the creation of fire breaks allowed P. maximum to penetrate the edges of the scrub. Inskip Point, an area of littoral scrub where T. melanogaster had been reliably reported from the 1990s until c.2015, appears to have been vacated (no sightings despite surveys in 2018) with the creation of numerous tracks and camping spots, enabling P. maximum to proliferate (P. Webster in litt. 2022). These problems have also been recorded at Redwood Park and Sharron Gorge Nature Park, where there have been no recent records of the species. Consequently, while the rate of decline has not been quantified, the species is inferred to be undergoing a continuing decline.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Australia	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Australia	Bunya Mountains and Yarraman
Australia	Conondale Range
Australia	Cooloola and Fraser Coast
Australia	Palmgrove
Australia	Scenic Rim

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Plantations	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Moist	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 800 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Scale Unknown/Unrecorded	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Scale Unknown/Unrecorded	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Wood & pulp plantations - Scale Unknown/Unrecorded	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Climate change & severe weather	Droughts	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species disturbance, Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Bos taurus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species disturbance, Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Dolichandra unguis-cati	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects, Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Equus caballus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species disturbance, Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Felis catus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Rhinella marina	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species disturbance, Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Sus domesticus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species disturbance, Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Vulpes vulpes	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Natural system modifications	Fire & fire suppression - Increase in fire frequency/intensity	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation

---

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Black-breasted Buttonquail Turnix melanogaster. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/black-breasted-buttonquail-turnix-melanogaster on 18/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 18/12/2024.