Quail- (Eastern NSW South Coast)- Australia (possible escpape) (1 Viewer)

Hello all!

Was going through my photos when I stumbled upon this. Initially I ided it as Brown Quail then upon further investigations I changed my opinion to female Stubble and now I don't think that it is an Australian species...

Eye was black and it was, perhaps, a bit larger then Brown.

I have more images of the bird, inlcuding one without a flash (show real colours) and a short video in which it calls (though now I can barely hear it. according to my notes a quick "Pi-e-preet!".

Images taken in Jan 07 and habitat was suburban sprawl with lots of native vegatation and parks nearby.

Thanks for your help and will post more photos if needed.

Dimitris

Hi Dimitris,
Agree, it doesn't look quite right for Brown or Stubble, which leaves the only Oz species as a female King....but if you're correct on size it ain't one of them, and face doesn't look particularly orange in the pic, although the flank/head markings seem a good match. So other than that, it could be an escape European or Japanese, but not sure of their status over there..??

birdboybowley said:

Hi Dimitris,
Agree, it doesn't look quite right for Brown or Stubble, which leaves the only Oz species as a female King....but if you're correct on size it ain't one of them, and face doesn't look particularly orange in the pic, although the flank/head markings seem a good match. So other than that, it could be an escape European or Japanese, but not sure of their status over there..??

Click to expand...

There are no records of wild birds of these two species (only escapes). So guess I'll have to dig out more shots asap... And yes, my size estimation is right the bird was feeding under my feeder for a whole day and then the cats prolly got it. As for King well the last record in my area was in the 1980s..

Cheers!

Dimitris

Edit: added photos

Bump!!

124 views and no extra replies! O.O...

I've sent the picture to an Australian mailing list and most of the folk there conclude that it's a Brown Quail, which (from photos) appears to be a fairly variable species.

Thanks for your time!

Dimitris

Dimitris said:

124 views and no extra replies! O.O...

I've sent the picture to an Australian mailing list and most of the folk there conclude that it's a Brown Quail, which (from photos) appears to be a fairly variable species.

Thanks for your time!

Dimitris

Click to expand...

Good for you that you did get some kind of consensus! (and thanks for letting us know). I basically could not do better than looking in Pizzey & Knight, which you had already done yourself ...

Niels