BirdUp · Species

King Quail

Synoicus chinensis(Linnaeus, 1766)

Also known asDhurr-ga

Least ConcernNative
Order
GALLIFORMES
Conservation
Least Concern
Commonness
Very common
Best seen
Year-round

01 · Identification

How to tell it apart

The king quail, also known as the blue-breasted quail, Asian blue quail, Chinese painted quail, or Chung-Chi, is a very small, diminutive galliform of the tribe Coturnicini in the subfamily Phasianinae. They are the smallest member in this subfamily and the family Phasianidae, as well as being the smallest and lightest member of the order Galliformes. It is quite common in aviculture worldwide, where it is commonly erroneously referred to as the "button quail", which is the name of an only very distantly related family of birds, the buttonquails. Its voice is a piping whistle, ti-yu or ti-ti-yu. It also gives sharp cheeps or a tir-tir-tir sound when flushed.

Description · wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

02 · Where

Where to find it

Breeding range
North and east Australia; Oriental Region
Non-breeding range
Resident

03 · When

When to look

Months this species is recorded across its Australian range.

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

05 · Behaviour

Habits and haunts

The BirdUp app

Log your next King Quail in the field

A pocket field journal for 850+ Australian birds. Offline-first, smart ID, and a lifelist that travels with you.