The Black-breasted Buttonquail is a ground bird with white spots across its black breast. It forages through forest floors where a deep, moist layer of leaf litter is available.
The back is mottled with rufous-brown, black, gray, and white; the breast is black with white spots and bars. Males have a pale face and throat with fine black speckling, while females have a black head and neck with some white speckling.
In dry rainforest and vine thickets, it searches through deep, moist leaf litter for food.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.