Luzon Buttonquail Turnix worcesteri Scientific name definitions

c. 12–14 cm (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ); female larger. Known sympatry only with T. ocellatus benguetensis and T. suscitator fasciatus, but male of first-named species is larger, has rufous breast and lacks rufous flanks and undertail-coverts, while female has head mainly black and white and collar rufous; both sexes of T. suscitator are larger than present species, with strongly barred underparts, and female has largely dark head (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Small, stout-billed Turnix closely resembling allopatric T. everetti, which is slightly darker above; similarly allopatric T. pyrrhothorax is somewhat paler dorsally, duller ventrally and normally rather larger. Female similar to male, but lores and face spotted white and throat is pale rufous continuous with underparts, except white belly (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Bill pale bluish, irides pale yellow and legs pinkish flesh (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Juvenile undescribed (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Luzon, in N Philippines, where known from just a few localities.

Grasslands in highlands of Central Cordillera (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), claimed to inhabit tall grass under pine trees in Kalinga province (2 Allen, D. (2009). Worcester’s Buttonquail Turnix worcesteri rediscovered at Dalton Pass. BirdingASIA. 11: 83–84. Close ); recorded from sea-level up to 1100 m (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), though perhaps mainly or only in the highlands (a lowland record is occasionally considered doubtful) (3 Poulsen, M. K. (1995). The threatened and near-threatened birds of Luzon, Philippines, and the role of the Sierra Madre mountains in their conservation. Bird Conservation International 5(1):79–115. Close ) and sometimes speculated that the species might to an unknown extent be dependent on forest (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Unknown; no records outside normal range. It has been suggested that records from Dalton Pass (in Jan–Feb and Jul–Nov) (2 Allen, D. (2009). Worcester’s Buttonquail Turnix worcesteri rediscovered at Dalton Pass. BirdingASIA. 11: 83–84. Close ) may represent an intra-island migration point between the Cordillera Central and Sierra Madre or elsewhere (3 Poulsen, M. K. (1995). The threatened and near-threatened birds of Luzon, Philippines, and the role of the Sierra Madre mountains in their conservation. Bird Conservation International 5(1):79–115. Close ).

No information available, other than that stomach contents for one specimen were insects (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Unknown (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

No specific information available, other than a male collected in Mar had slightly enlarged gonads (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). The limited available evidence suggests that the species breeds somewhere in N Luzon in Apr–Jun and that at least some birds disperse S in the period Jul–Mar (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Not globally threatened. Currently considered Data Deficient. Restricted-range species: present in Luzon EBA. Recorded only from Luzon, with definite records from just six localities (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), and a possible sighting from a seventh (4 Dinets, V. (2001). Ornithological records from Luzon during January–February 21481481, including a description of the voice of Luzon Rail Lewinia mirificus. Bulletin of the Oriental Bird Club 34: 40–41. Close , 5 Collar, N.J. and Sykes, B.R. (2009). Lost, found and saved—OBC conservation: the next 25 years. BirdingASIA. 11: 41–46. Close ). Most recent record is of a bird photographed at Dalton Pass in Jan 2009 (2 Allen, D. (2009). Worcester’s Buttonquail Turnix worcesteri rediscovered at Dalton Pass. BirdingASIA. 11: 83–84. Close ). No specific information available; restricted in range, rarely encountered by ornithologists, and biology unknown. Species said to be rare and probably threatened, and this is supported by paucity of specimens; however notoriously cryptic and unobtrusive habits of this family may have caused under-recording (6 Collar, N. J., A. V. Andreev, S. Chan, M. J. Crosby, S. Subramanya, and J. A. Tobias, Editors (2001). Threatened Birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK. Close ). Populations may await discovery on other islands. Extensive research required. Subject to certain degree of human predation (6 Collar, N. J., A. V. Andreev, S. Chan, M. J. Crosby, S. Subramanya, and J. A. Tobias, Editors (2001). Threatened Birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK. Close ). Treated as Vulnerable until 2000, there are few recent records and almost nothing known of its distribution, population, ecology and threats; thus an assessment of its threat status is currently not possible BirdLife International (2015) Species factsheet: Turnix worcesteri. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 15/10/2015. .