Three species, and none of them are actually quail — buttonquail are their own family, only superficially similar to true quail in shape and habit. Small, round, short-tailed, and reluctant to fly, they live low in grass and scrub and are far more often walked past than seen. Most sightings are accidental: a bird flushed a few feet away that drops back into cover within a stride or two.
The one fact worth knowing before trying to photograph any of them is that the usual rules of sexual dimorphism run backwards here. Female buttonquail are the larger, brighter, more strongly marked sex; they take the lead in courtship, and it's the male who incubates the eggs and raises the young alone. So a bold, well-marked bird is as likely to be a female as anything, which matters when trying to match a photograph to a field guide plate drawn with the usual assumption in mind.
Barred Buttonquail is the one most likely to turn up — grassland and cultivation edges across most of India — while Yellow-legged and Small Buttonquail are patchier and easily overlooked among the commoner species.
3Species in India
2Photographed
Grass and scrubWhere they live
Females leadReversed roles
Flushed, not foundHow most are seen
The species
Yellow-legged Buttonquail
Turnix tanki1 frame
Status
Resident, with some local seasonal movement
Range
Scattered across India below the high Himalaya, patchy and local rather than continuously distributed
Habitat
Dry grassland, scrub and cultivation edges — often drier, more open country than Barred Buttonquail
IUCN
Least Concern
Paler and sandier overall than Barred Buttonquail, with a diagnostic yellow bill (blue-grey in Barred) and a pale eye-ring. Black spotting across the breast and flanks rather than a solid barred band. Crepuscular to nocturnal in habit, which is often how it turns up — flushed or spotlighted after dark rather than found by day.
FM0195
Nov 2017Uma Maheswaram, Nagarkurnool, TelanganaHunkered on bare ground during a nocturnal session, yellow bill and pale-ringed eye lit by torchlight.
Barred Buttonquail
Turnix suscitator2 frames
Status
Resident
Range
Widespread across India, absent only from the highest Himalaya and the driest northwest
Habitat
Tall grass, scrub, cultivation edges and open forest floor with ground cover
IUCN
Least Concern
A small, round-bodied bird, heavily spangled black-and-buff above with a barred breast band and a stout blue-grey bill. The female is the brighter, more contrastingly marked of the pair, with a solidly black throat and upper breast — the male is duller and paler here. Runs rather than flies when disturbed, and usually stays low enough in cover that a clear view is a matter of luck as much as fieldcraft.
FM0193
Nov 2018Uma Maheswaram, Nagarkurnool, TelanganaStanding on rock in warm evening light, spangled black-and-buff plumage catching the sun.
