The Birding Mystery of the Buff-breasted Button-quail
It’s tricky to say and even harder to find.
For more than 100 years, birdwatchers have searched for evidence of Australia’s rarest native birds, the mysterious Turnix olivii, or buff-breasted button-quail as it is more commonly known.
The story of the buff-breasted button-quail is a baffling one, raising questions and passionate debate as to whether the bird has been misidentified, or at worst, is long extinct.
So, is it a case of mistaken identity, have we missed our chance, or are we just not looking in the right places?
Back by popular demand, former Queensland Chief Scientist, conservation biologist and passionate bird watcher Professor Hugh Possingham leads a panel of experts to discuss the mystery of the buff-breasted button-quail and other intriguing tales from the bird watching frontline.
Join them for an exhilarating fly through of some of our most beautiful and rare birds and hear how libraries and museums are preserving and restoring books, bird specimens and collections and the ways in which scientists continue to refer to these works of art.