Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2023L00858:body:0:p12
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2023L00858
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 31645–34648

rainforest sometimes in association with moist eucalypt forest in New South Wales (Garnett & Crowley 2000).

Black-breasted Button-quail habitat may also change when populations are put under intense pressure e.g., Hervey Bay where birds have been found foraging at the edge of mangroves.

Littoral vine forest located at Rainbow Beach © Copyright, Patrick Webster

Semi-evergreen vine thicket located at Lockyer Valley © Copyright, Patrick Webster

Araucarian microphyll vine forest located at Yarraman © Copyright, Patrick Webster

Feeding ecology

Black-breasted Button-quails appear to be generalist insectivores (Webster et al. 2019), feeding mostly on invertebrates in the order Coleoptera (beetles), Formicidae (ants) and Dermaptera (earwigs) (Marchant & Higgins 1993; Webster et al. 2018). The vegetation types described above generally possess a well-developed leaf litter layer between 3 to 10 cm deep. It is through this leaf litter that the Black-breasted Button-quail forages using a technique termed "pivot-feeding".

The birds scratch at the leaf litter with one leg while pivoting the body on the other, thus displacing leaves and soil, exposing invertebrate prey. Birds are known to also pivot feed in soil with little or no leaf litter, however there is usually leaf litter nearby (R Jaensch pers. comm. May 2022). This scratching produces distinctive circular feeding depressions often termed "platelets" that are between 15 and 25 cm in diameter. All other button-quail species in Australia feed in a similar fashion. Although Black-breasted Button-quail typically produce the most completely formed platelets (that are often much larger and deeper than other species due to the soft substrate in which the species' forages), in soft friable soil Painted Button-quail platelets are not discernible from Black-breasted Button-quail platelets (P Webster pers. comm. 2022).

Characteristic Black-breasted Button-quail feeding platelets © Copyright, Patrick Webster

Black-breasted Button-quail feeding platelets at Redwood Park, Toowoomba © Copyright, Roger Jaensch

Close up of Black-breasted Button-quail feeding platelet © Copyright, Patrick Webster

Breeding ecology

There is little known about the breeding habits of Black-breasted Button-quail, however they are assumed to breed throughout their contemporary range (Marchant & Higgins 1993). The breeding season is September to April-May (Garnett et al. 2011). The breeding strategy of the species is polyandrous, which means that a female will mate with several males during the one breeding season.

Nests consist of a scrape in the ground measuring 10 cm by 6 cm, that is lined with leaves or moss. Nests are well-concealed and placed in the buttressed roots of a tree or sapling or under a low bush or grass tussock (Marchant & Higgins 1993). It is not known which sex builds the nest.

Between three and five eggs are laid (Marchant & Higgins 1993). The incubation period in the wild is 18–21 days. The female can lay