Distribution of Black-breasted Button-quail Turnix melanogaster in the Great Sandy Region, Queensland and associations with vegetation communities

ABSTRACT The Black-breasted Button-quail is a threatened forest inhabiting button-quail endemic to the east coast of Australia. Their distribution in the largest undeveloped portion of littoral forest within their range has, until this study, remained unsurveyed. In addition, their use of littoral vegetation is poorly described. Here we present findings from targeted camera trapping surveys in the Great Sandy Region collectively; K’gari (Fraser Island), Cooloola and Inskip Peninsula, Queensland. We also review all published and unpublished reports of this species in this region, and assess their veracity. The associations of high veracity records with vegetation communities are presented. The species was most readily associated with littoral forest along the eastern coast of K’gari and Cooloola. Our findings reaffirm the distribution of Black-breasted Button-quail along the coast of K’gari, further they are distributed along the Cooloola coast and in a few isolated inland sites. This study addresses one of the persistent knowledge gaps documented in the 2010 and 2020 Action Plan for Australian Birds, pertaining to the species use and distribution in littoral vegetation of the Great Sandy Region. We anticipate the proposed distribution presented here will prove valuable in future surveys and research on this species in the Great Sandy region.