Tag Archives: Turnix sylvatica ssp. suluensis

Turnix sylvatica ssp. suluensis Mearns

Sulu Small Buttonquail (Turnix sylvatica ssp. suluensis)

The Small Buttonquil (Turnix sylvatica (Desfontaines)) occurs with nine subspecies from parts of Africa and southern Europe to Southeast Asia; about four subspecies occur in the Philippine Islands alone.

The subspecies that once occurred on the island of Jolo in the Sulu Islands was last seen in the 1950s and is now considered most likely extinct.

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The nominate form was known to inhabit the island of Sicily, Italy, where the species apparently was last recorded during the 1920s, as well as Andalusia, Spain where it was last recorded in 1981. This form survives today only in a small area in Morocco, where only an extremely small population of about a hand full of individuals exist. [1][2]

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References:

[1] Carlo G. Violani; Bruno Massa: Extinction of the Andalusian Hemipode Turnix s. sylvatica (Desf.) in the Mediterranean region. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 113(4): 225-229. 1993
[2] Daniel Lingenhöhl: Erste europäische Vogelart seit Riesenalk ausgestorben. Spektrum.de. 16. November 2018

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edited: 03.10.2020