The Buttonquail belongs to the Turnicidae family of birds, which are small birds that inhabit the temperate savanna in the tropics of Africa and in Asia. They are very small birds with tiny wings. The buttonquails are rarely in flight but move around faster by running very fast. They tend to blend very well into their environment, with the coffee brown color that is the main color of their feathers.

The button quail is a unique bird species that has managed to switch the traditional male roles with the traditional female roles of nature. Unlike most birds where the male is brightly colored, the female buttonquail is the most brightly colored of both sexes and will court two males or more at the same time. Unlike the other females of the bird species, the female buttonquail initiates courting. She marks the territory and will not allow any other females to ‘defile it’. Rivalries are common amongst females of the buttonquail species. The male, once courted will mate with the female and the male will be expected to take care of the young chicks aside from nestling the eggs until they hatch. The male will also feed the young buttonquail until they are old enough to fend for themselves

They feed on small insects and on seeds and vegetation. They are small birds and have many predators; they live in large colonies to protect themselves. Their color allows them to blend into the surrounding of the savanna.

There are two genera in the family Turnicidae. The genera ortyxelos and theTurnix. Of the two genera, the genus turnix has the greatest numbers of species, with the quail plover being the only species in the genus ortyxelos. The genus turnix contains two species that are extinct, that is the tawitawi small buttonquail and the Andalusian hemipode (Turnix sylvatica suluensis and Turnix sylvatica sylvatica) among the other species of the genus turnix are the barred buttonquail the buff breasted buttonquail and the Madagascar buttonquail

Before the advent of theSibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, the buttonquail was a bird classified in the same order as galliforems. There was the need to distinguish the two types of birds, since there was nothing similar to the buttonquail and pheasant. There was also the fact their rates of molecular evolution, which was far more than the limits the DNA-DNA hybridization and sequence data served to indicate that the Turnicidae are shorebirds.

The turnix worcesteri or Worchester’s buttonquail is a button quail species that is a natural inhabitant of Asia and is well adapted to high altitudes and can do well in tropical areas. The buttonquail does well in high vegetation, and have black and white heads. They are hard to catch and although they do not live in nests high up on trees, they manage to escape from their predators, which include snakes, foxes and even man. Their main predators is man as the Worchester’s buttonquail is a delicacy amongst many people; ad this has reduced the population amongst the species, especially the Worchester’s buttonquail.