Hi Birders,
Frank Hemmings observation of the pair of Red-chested Button-quail at
Scheyville National Park near South Windsor in a grassy area is an
interesting and rare record for the Sydney Region, being only the 7th for
the County of Cumberland.
On 24 December Edwin Vella and others reported looking for these
button-quail at Scheyville without success and in particular were searching
for platelets as an indicator of their presence. I might be wrong but I
don't think that either the Red-chested or the Little Button-quail are known
for their use of platelets for searching for seeds and insects. A brief read
of HANZAB failed to note any reference to platelets. Both species are
grassland/wheat stubble birds feeding on spilled grain, grass seeds and
insects and therefore may not need to scratch the ground in the way that the
other species in the genus do.
The previous records for the County of Cumberland (Sydney Region) are:
1969 N+4 eggs Richmond Jan
1973 Female found dead Dee Why 25 Oct
1981 Bush's Lagoon, Richmond 31 Dec
1983 AF found dead Lane Cove Nov
1993 AM Bushells Lagoon 8 Dec
1994 2 in Waterfall area, Royal NP 21 May
2004 2 Scheyville NP 22 Dec
Note that all but one record are in the period Oct-Jan and most are for the
cleared but wettter grassland sections of the Cumberland Plain. Way back in
the 1970s it was suggested by me that there is a tendency for the birds to
be present in the wetter years in summer in the eastern part of NSW, and if
this is the case, this observation follows that pattern. 2004 has been a
drought year but the greatest rainfall period has been in Nov-Dec.
Alan Morris
Records Officer, Birding NSW
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