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

Taxonomic note
Closely related to T. varius and T. olivii; sometimes considered conspecific with former, but differs in bill size and details of plumage. Invalid subspecies magnificus (NW Australia), melvillensis (Melville I) and alligator (N Australia) no longer recognized, as all based on individual rather than geographical variation. Monotypic.

Taxonomic source(s)
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
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2008	Near Threatened	A2c; A3c; A4c; B1a+b(iii,v)
2004	Near Threatened
2000	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1996	Vulnerable
1994	Vulnerable
1988	Near Threatened

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type	Australia	Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	693,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	50000 mature individuals	poor	suspected	2000
Population trend	stable	medium	suspected	1998-2008
Generation length	3.14 years	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	100%	-	-	-

Population justification: Its population could possibly number c.100,000 birds, including c.50,000 mature individuals. However, there are effectively no data to support this (S. Garnett in litt. 2007, J. Woinarski in litt. 2007). The species may historically have disappeared from half of its range, particularly near the McArthur River region, where it was last recorded in 1913 (Garnett and Crowley 2000), however no recent declines have been reported even though the population is sparse and scattered, and population declines in the last three generations (10 years) are considered unlikely (Garnett et al. 2011). The population trend is therefore suspected to be stable.

Trend justification: The species may historically have disappeared from half of its range, particularly near the McArthur River region, where it was last recorded in 1913 (Garnett and Crowley 2000), however no recent declines have been reported even though the population is sparse and scattered, and population declines in the last three generations (11 years) are considered unlikely (Garnett et al. 2011). The population trend is therefore suspected to be stable.

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

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Australia	Gregory National Park
Australia	Kakadu Savanna
Australia	Mornington Sanctuary
Australia	Prince Regent and Mitchell River
Australia	Yinberrie Hills

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Savanna	Dry	suitable	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 500 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Climate change & severe weather	Other impacts	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Whole (>90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Ovis aries	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Unspecified species	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Natural system modifications	Fire & fire suppression - Trend Unknown/Unrecorded	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation

Purpose	Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Chestnut-backed Buttonquail Turnix castanotus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/chestnut-backed-buttonquail-turnix-castanotus 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.