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- Coturnix pectoralis
Identification
18 to 18.5cm. Female slightly larger than the male. Dark brown above with pale buff markings, centre of each feather has a cream stripe running down it, giving the plumage a streaked appearance. Male: light chestnut sides of face and throat; female - white throat, pale buff with dark spots on sides of face and neck. In both sexes head and nape are black with buff tips, white eyebrow and white line through the centre of the head. In the male the chest has a prominent black pattern with the rest of the chest and abdomen being white with a black central streak. The hen lacks the black chest patch, having a paler buff coloured chest with darker markings through it. Both sexes have a red-brown iris, black bill and flesh legs and feet.
Distribution
Taxonomy
Habitat
Agricultural areas, wet grasslands, coastal heaths, roadsides and neglected pastures.
Behaviour
The diet includes seeds, green grasses, insects, caterpillars and small frogs.
The nest is a scrape in the ground lined with grass. 7 - 8 pale yellow or light brown eggs, with dark brown blotches are laid and incubated by the female for 18 days.
