Small Buttonquail (Annotated checklist of vagrant Buttonquails(Family: Turnicidae) of Sri Lanka)

      Birds that appear outside their normal range are known as vagrants. This post listed up to date published sight records of the single *unconfirmed vagrant of the family Turnicidae (Buttonquails) in Sri Lanka.

      1) Small Buttonquail (Turnix sylvaticus dussumier)

Single sight record from the Buttuwa wewa area of the Yala national park in February 1978 by Dr. Ben King, an American ornithologist, is the only record of the occurrence of this bird in Sri Lanka (Hoffmann, T. W. 1979 & Hoffmann, T. W., 1978)

References:
    

     Hoffmann, T. W., 1979. Note from the Ceylon Bird club 1978. Loris, 15(1), p 6-8.

     Hoffmann, T. W., 1978. New birds in Sri Lanka. Loris, 14(5), 308.

     *Species for which there are only one or two sight records exist are categorized here as unconfirmed vagrants. Problematic records without sufficient details are also included.  

Barred Buttonquail (Turnix suscitator)

Common breeding resident in grasslands, scrublands and paddy fields in low country dry zone. Usually seen as pairs or solitary birds. Also not uncommon in suitable habitats in wet zone and hills like in tea plantation. It feeds on seeds, termites etc. picking up from the ground usually in the morning and evening. In this bird, the normal role of the sexes is reversed and female courts males uttering long purring call and she also practices polyandry. Having laid 2 to 4 eggs in a nest compose of dry grass, rootlets etc. in a hollow at the base of a small shrub, she leaves while her mate incubate them and bring up the chicks. The breeding season last for most of the year but most likely months are January to March and again July to August of the year.