Steve - The immediate answer to your question is that in adding text to Cayley’s larger-format pictures Terence Lindsey gave upper left bird as Brown Quail, below left as ‘Swamp Quail’ (then separate species), on
right a pair of Stubble Quail. My non-serious graphic was a comment on the long and not entirely successful struggle by the field guides to give helpful field indicators for these birds. Of Cayley’s four birds, it is the Brown Quail that has the most distinct
pale throat. In Slater 1970 the female Stubble was about even in that regard. By the Australian Bird Guide 2017, the Brown Quail no longer has that feature, and it is the female Stubble with the ‘whitish throat’. The fact is that it is extremely difficult
to separate these birds if you have, say, a 3-second side view of a brownish quail crossing a path at a distance of 20 metres. For that reason, the books have turned to other indicators, such as voice, flight behaviour, and habitat. Just how useful these are
I have not myself had sufficient experience to say (that is a fleeting observation plus later definite ID). If you hear a call, how do you know it’s the same bird that you saw? However, I am bearing in mind the helpful advice that on take-off the Stubble
Quail has ‘whirring rather than clattering wing beats’ (ABG) in the hope that one day I shall be able to witness that difference when two birds, one of each species, take flight simultaneously. It seems that John very nearly had such a moment at a local grassland.
From: Steve Read <>
Sent: Saturday, 22 January 2022 10:01 AM
To: 'Geoffrey Dabb' <>; 'Canberrabirds' <>
Subject: RE: [Canberrabirds] FW: Quails at Gungaderra Grasslands
Not having a copy of Cayley to hand, Geoffrey, I’m lacking confidence in the identity of all the quail in this picture. Are they all Stubble Quail? I think I can make that argument for two, possibly,
three of the birds, at least…
Extract me from confusion!
Steve
From: Canberrabirds <>
On Behalf Of Geoffrey Dabb
Sent: Saturday, 22 January 2022 9:53 AM
To: Canberrabirds <>
Subject: [Canberrabirds] FW: Quails at Gungaderra Grasslands
With acknowledgements to Neville W Cayley
From: Canberrabirds <>
On Behalf Of calyptorhynchus via Canberrabirds
Sent: Saturday, 22 January 2022 9:44 AM
To:
Subject: Re: [Canberrabirds] Quails at Gungaderra Grasslands
Someone asked me to elaborate on the differences between the quails, so I wrote:
Brown Quail, medium sized, all dark brown including underneath, rose rapidly and noisily and flew straight a longish distance before settling again.
Stubble Quail, slightly larger than Brown Quail, pale grey above with whitish streaks, pale underneath, rose rapidly and very noisily and flew straight rocking from side to side
in flight a longish distance before settling.
If I'd been lucky enough to flush a Button-quail (of whatever species) it would have been tiny, have risen rapidly but not particularly noisily and plonked down only a short distance
away.
as a ps I've just remembered that a couple of months ago I was walking the same path and heard Stubble Quail calling.
cheers
John L
On Sat, 22 Jan 2022 at 09:26, Steve Read <> wrote:
Thanks John – I’m not particularly good at quail identification so that helps.
Would you consider also posting that response to the chatline? I think others would also like to know these differences.
Regards
Steve
From: calyptorhynchus <>
Sent: Saturday, 22 January 2022 9:10 AM
To: Steve Read <>
Subject: Re: [Canberrabirds] Quails at Gungaderra Grasslands
Hi Steve,
Brown Quail, medium sized, all dark brown including underneath, rose rapidly and noisily and flew straight a longish distance before settling again.
Stubble Quail, slightly larger than Brown Quail, pale grey above with whitish streaks, pale underneath, rose rapidly and very noisily and flew straight rocking from side to side
in flight a longish distance before settling.
If I'd been lucky enough to flush a Button-quail (of whatever species) it would have been tiny, have risen rapidly but not particularly noisily and plonked down only a short distance
away.
On Fri, 21 Jan 2022 at 21:51, Steve Read <> wrote:
Nice! Can you describe the field differences between the two quail as you saw them? Sometimes how individual birders describe spotting characters or behaviour is more useful than
field guide illustrations.
On Fri, 21 Jan 2022 at 7:46 pm, calyptorhynchus via Canberrabirds <>
wrote:
This evening I went for a walk along the very overgrown track through the Grasslands running south from the end of Bollard Street Palmerston.
Within 100 metres of the start I had flushed a single Brown Quail, and 200 metres further on a single Stubble Quail! Nice comparison between the two.
Also seen were Skylark and Australian Pipit, but the grassland probably hasn't been this lush and tall for decades, so pretty difficult to see anything ground-dwelling that doesn't
fly!
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