Blue-breasted Quail

Alternative names: Chinese Painted Quail, Asian Blue Quail, King Quail

Male
Photo by Tom Tarrant
Lake Samsonvale, South-eastern Queensland, October 2004

Synoicus chinensis

Identification

14cm

• Black bill
• Yellow to orange legs and feet
• Short, dark brown tail

Male

• Dark brown
• Slate blue-grey breast
• Rust chestnut-red belly
• Black throat patch surrounded by a white band and bordered by a black stripe
• Black eye stripe
  

Female
Photo by Tom Tarrant
Lake Samsonvale, South-eastern Queensland, October 2004

Female

• Brown
• Rust-brown belly and breast
  

Distribution

Asia and Australasia
Asia: China, Nepal, India, Andaman Islands, Nicobar Islands, Eastern and Western Himalayas, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Taiwan
Southeast Asia: Indochina, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Malay Peninsula, Brunei, Singapore, Philippines, Borneo, Indonesia, Greater Sundas, Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, Bali, Timor, Moluccas
Australasia: New Guinea, Australia: New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia

Taxonomy

Male with chick, Nominate Subspecies
Photo by SeeToh
Pulau Punggol Barat, Singapore, July 2016

Formerly considered conspecific with Blue Quail. Formerly placed in genus Coturnix and sometimes placed in genus Excalfactoria.

Subspecies

There are 10 subspecies^[1]:

• S. c. chinensis: India to Sri Lanka, Malaya, Indochina, south-eastern China and Taiwan
• S. c. trinkutensis: Andaman Islands and Nicobar Islands
• S. c. palmeri: Sumatra and Java
• S. c. lineatus: Philippines, Borneo, Sulawesi and Sula Islands
• S. c. lineatula: Lesser Sundas (Lombok to Sumba, Flores and Timor)
• S. c. novaeguineae: Montane forests of New Guinea
• S. c. papuensis: South-eastern New Guinea
• S. c. lepidus: Bismarck Archipelago
• S. c. colletti: Northern Australia (Northern Territory)
• S. c. victoriae: Eastern Australia (Queensland to Victoria)

Habitat

Wet grasslands.

Behaviour

Breeding

They nest on the ground in grass-lined hollows. The clutch consists of 6-14 eggs, which are olive green to brown and have dark brown spots/blotches. They are incubated for 16-19 days.

Diet

The diet includes grass seeds, vegetation, and small worms and insects.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Avibase

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Blue-breasted Quail. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 26 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Blue-breasted_Quail

External Links

Search for photos of Blue-breasted Quail in the gallery

Use "Chinese Painted Quail" to Search for videos of Blue-breasted Quail on BirdForum TV

• View more images of this species on Orientalbirdimages