- Pedionomus torquatus
Identification
15–19 cm. The adult male is light brown above, and has fawn-white underparts with black crescents. The adult female has a distinctive white-spotted black collar. They have a distinctive pattern on the upper wing.
Distribution
Taxonomy
It was formerly believed to be related to the buttonquails and thus placed in the gamebird order Galliformes or with the cranes and rails in Gruiformes. DNA-DNA hybridization and RAG-1 sequence data places it as a wader related to the jacanas (Sibley & Ahlquist 1990, Paton et al. 2003, Thomas et al. 2004, van Tuinen et al. 2004). It thus represents a remarkable case of morphological convergence.
Habitat
Lowland native grasslands. They prefer areas with a mix of bare ground and low, widely spaced plants.
Behaviour
The diet includes seeds, insects and spiders.
The female scratches a hollow in the ground, lines it with grass and usually lays 4 eggs. The male incubates the eggs and rears the chicks. The female then pairs with another male.
