New Zealand Quail – Coturnix Novaezelandiae

The New Zealand Quail is one of those quail species that we’ll never see running around anymore.

It’s been extinct since 1875. The Maoris called them Koreke. They inhabited tussocky grasslands and open fern fields.

The cockerel and the hen were almost lookalikes only the hen was slightly lighter.

At first they were associated with the Australian Stubble Quail but a two year genetic research conducted in 2007-2009 showed that even though there is a close phylogenetic relationship between the two, they are in fact different quail species.

Source: Wikipedia