• 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
D	D	D1

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2022	Critically Endangered	D
2016	Endangered	B2ac(ii)
2012	Endangered	B1ab(ii,iii,iv,v)+2ab(ii,iii,iv,v);C2a(ii)
2008	Endangered	B1a+b(ii,iii,iv,v); B2a+b(ii,iii,iv,v); C2a(ii)
2004	Endangered
2000	Endangered
1996	Endangered
1994	Endangered
1988	Threatened

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

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	30,200 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	1-249, 1-49 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2020
Population trend	unknown	poor	-	-
Generation length	3.1 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	1	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	100%	-	-	-

Population justification:

This species is evidently extremely rare. Garnett et al. (2011) posited there may be 500 birds, although this was presented without evidence and there are probably fewer, possibly even none (Webster et al. 2021a). From 2001–2019 a search effort of 103 days (193 person-days) yielded a report of one female at Mareeba in 2005, one female on Lakefield National Park in 2009, and up to two pairs at Mount Mulligan in 2015 (Mathieson and Smith 2017, Webster et al. 2021a). However, these were not accompanied by any verifiable evidence. In a separate and more targeted search effort between 2018 and 2021, extensive surveys (over 200 person-days) including camera trapping, call playback, searches for platelets, flush surveys and automated recording units were undertaken across the species's range at all known historic sites and contemporary sites with reports; no T. olivii were found, but the adopted methods were successful in detecting T. varius, T. velox, T. oyrrhothorax and T. maculosus (Webster et al. 2021b). Despite occasional reports (both peer-reviewed and anecdotal) from the Wet Tropics and Einasleigh Uplands Bioregion since the 1980s (e.g. Mathieson and Smith 2017), no observations have been made with irrefutable evidence and Webster et al. (2021b) concluded that the last confirmed records date back to the early 1920s. Accepting this assertion, the average probability of extinction using the threats model of extinction (Keith et al. 2017) and the records and survey model (Thompson et al. 2017) is 0.48. Any extant population is therefore estimated to be tiny, and the population size is here estimated at 1-250 mature individuals, with a best estimate (following Webster et al. 2021a) of 1-49 mature individuals.

Trend justification:

Given the tremendous uncertainties regarding this species's population size, the trend is effectively inestimable. Although the paucity of verified records in recent decades suggests that it has declined since the 1920s, there is little indication of when this decline took place. Given how long the species has been rare for (with no verified sightings since the early 1920s), a continuing decline would probably mean the species is now Extinct. In the absence of more robust data therefore, the population trend is recorded as unknown.

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

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Australia	Iron and McIlwraith Ranges
Australia	Morehead River

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	suitable	resident
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	resident
Altitude	0 - 500 m	Occasional altitudinal limits	(max) 800 m

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Scale Unknown/Unrecorded	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Climate change & severe weather	Habitat shifting & alteration	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Felis catus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Unknown		Unknown		Unknown
		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%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Sus scrofa	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Unknown		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Unspecified species	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Problematic native species/diseases - Named species	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Unknown		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Species mortality
Natural system modifications	Fire & fire suppression - Trend Unknown/Unrecorded	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Buff-breasted Buttonquail Turnix olivii. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/buff-breasted-buttonquail-turnix-olivii on 23/11/2024.
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 23/11/2024.