Barred Buttonquail: The ghostly birds...

Here goes my mandatory warning: the Barred Buttonquails are not the true quails, they are more of rails - so I am told. They are almost omnipresent in most of the Indian Subcontinent across tropical Asia to South China and Indonesia and Philippines. The problem is that they have and ability - like so many birds and animals - to hide in plain sight. And that they are small, mud brown with an effective camouflage pattern does not help in sightings...

...The poor male - smaller, duller and the home maker

I got alerted to their presence by a fellow birder - Mrs Alpana in Chandigarh and I was holding my horses to return to Chandigarh and see them properly and photograph them. Promptly after Stepping in Chandigarh I rang her up and requested her to come along for these birds. Very next day we were at the spot at sunrise and waiting. Half hour of sitting quietly - and there they were - the tiny bundles moving from one bush to another with extreme caution. I fired of - perhaps 300 shots - but the birds were just non obliging - The focus was hard even when they came a few feet from us - because they were just not ready to leave cover. Unfortunately one time when they were out of cover the one time and crossing the track I was just not ready.

The female Barred Buttonquail, beautiful, bigger, brighter, stronger and a flirt...

Same female as pictured above

Okay for information these four acceptable pictures are a result of five visits to the spot...

Okay - here is the fun fact of this bird: The female is larger and more richly coloured. We birders are usually not used to seeing more ‘beautiful females’ in the bird world - infact I may be able to recall only a few handful in my experience and thinking about it I can recall only one at the moment - Greater Painted Snipe. The female is also polyandrous - she fights for possession of a cock, announces herself to cock and goes off to acquire a new husband as soon as the eggs are laid as it is the cock that incubates the eggs - a husband who genuinely deserves sympathies - unlike most of us…


I have decided to include the bird songs if possible from this post onwards - mainly so that the option to hear them is also available - and the songs are quite a surprise I can assure you.

Ah - yes that sound that sounds like a scooter is a female call...