The painted species is almost totally mottled, with bold white spotting on the breast and no warm buff coloration.

[citation needed] The advertising (or booming) call made by the female is ooom-oom-oom, repeated up to 20 times.

Other calls, perhaps in reaction to danger, include gug-gug-gug, a soft chirp-chirp-chirp and a loud kwaare-kwaare.

Reports describe this species as dependent on grassy woods made up of Melaleuca, Acacia, Alphitonia and Tristania.

[citation needed] Sites identified by BirdLife International as being important for buff-breasted buttonquail conservation are the Iron and McIlwraith Ranges, and the Morehead River of Far North Queensland.

[2] The buff-breasted buttonquail is an endangered species, with a population estimated at 500 individuals and an historical range of 2,070 km2 (800 sq mi).

[citation needed] Details of their diet are little known, but (like most buttonquail) they probably eat insects and seeds, with sand used as a digestion aid.