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Description
This is a female Kurrichane Buttonquail, Turnix sylvaticus. These birds look like quails, but aren't! Buttonquails used to be classified in the Crane-and-Rail order, the Gruiformes, but have been recently found to be members of the Shorebird Order, the Charadriiformes - in fact, they're not far from seagulls! Buttonquails are found in Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia. They're a but smaller than true quails, and further differ from them in lacking crops and hind toes. They mosly live in areas with lots of grass and scrub to hide in. When crossing open patches, they may walk exaggeratedly slowly, rocking their body forward and backward like a chameleon! The gender roles are reversed: the female is bigger, brighter-coloured than the male, stakes out territories, give loud, booming calls, and pursue the males. One female mates with several males in succession, laying her eggs in each one's nest leaving him to incubate it and care for the chicks. The name 'Kurrichane' comes from an old site in South Africa called 'Kaditshwene'. But this species occurs very widely in Africa and South-east Asia, and even used to occur in Europe too, but recently went extinct there. Acrylic painting.

Description
This is a female Kurrichane Buttonquail, Turnix sylvaticus. These birds look like quails, but aren't! Buttonquails used to be classified in the Crane-and-Rail order, the Gruiformes, but have been recently found to be members of the Shorebird Order, the Charadriiformes - in fact, they're not far from seagulls! Buttonquails are found in Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia. They're a but smaller than true quails, and further differ from them in lacking crops and hind toes. They mosly live in areas with lots of grass and scrub to hide in. When crossing open patches, they may walk exaggeratedly slowly, rocking their body forward and backward like a chameleon! The gender roles are reversed: the female is bigger, brighter-coloured than the male, stakes out territories, give loud, booming calls, and pursue the males. One female mates with several males in succession, laying her eggs in each one's nest leaving him to incubate it and care for the chicks. The name 'Kurrichane' comes from an old site in South Africa called 'Kaditshwene'. But this species occurs very widely in Africa and South-east Asia, and even used to occur in Europe too, but recently went extinct there. Acrylic painting.