King quail
| King quail | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Galliformes |
| Family: | Phasianidae |
| Genus: | Synoicus |
| Species: | S. chinensis
|
| Binomial name | |
| Synoicus chinensis (Linnaeus, 1766)
| |
| Synonyms | |
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The king quail (Synoicus chinensis), 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.