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

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	Vulnerable	B1ab(iii,iv,v);C2a(ii)
2012	Vulnerable	B1ab(iii,iv,v);C2a(ii)
2008	Vulnerable	B1a+b(iii,iv,v); C2a(ii)
2004	Vulnerable
2002	Vulnerable
2000	Vulnerable
1996	Vulnerable
1994	Vulnerable
1988	Threatened

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type		Average mass	28 g

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	9,870 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	stable	poor	suspected	-
Generation length	2.84 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	1	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	100%	-	-	-

Population justification: The population size has not been estimated, but it is described as fairly common (Linsley et al. 1998, Eaton et al. 2021). Although it was not detected at any survey stations in Jones et al. (1997), these stations were placed in habitat that was inappropriate for this species (i.e. not grassland) given the concentrated effort on forest birds. They did, however, encounter up to 17 T. everetti at a single site in 1992 and found buttonquail species at every grassland site they visited (given the relative encounter rate for Turnix species on Sumba not established [eBird 2023], a large number of these were probably T. everetti rather than T. maculosus).
Although there has been no dedicated survey for it in the interim, citizen science data now confirm the suggestion made by previous reviews (Jones et al. 1997, BirdLife International 2001) that the species is locally common, with records from sites across much of the island, often in counts close to, or surpassing, double figures (eBird 2023). Accordingly, while the total global population size cannot be estimated here, it is probably not particularly small given the total size of Sumba (11,000 km²) and the increasing proliferation of cleared grassland habitats.

Trend justification: The population trend of Turnix everetti is considered stable. This species is evidently dependent on grasslands which are widespread across Sumba (Jones et al. 1995, Linsley et al. 1998, BirdLife International 2001, eBird 2023). While it is possible that the species becomes locally scarcer in some years in response to, e.g., burning of grasslands, these areas likely recover relatively quickly, and the overall area of suitable habitat across the island in any given year probably remains close to stable. In some parts of Sumba, the area of habitat may even be increasing in response to (localised) clearance of forest and scrub (Global Forest Watch 2023). In the absence of other identified threats, the population is therefore suspected to be stable.

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

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Indonesia	Manupeu Tanadaru

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	resident
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	resident
Savanna	Dry	major	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Moist	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 600 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Agro-industry farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Whole (>90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 7
		Stresses Species mortality

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence, national

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Sumba Buttonquail Turnix everetti. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/sumba-buttonquail-turnix-everetti on 23/12/2024.
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 23/12/2024.