A Coturnix Quail Standard

[adubsroit]

After looking for pictures that I may save to my computer for future reference of recognizing color I have come to the conclusion that something must be done.

This has inspired me to photoshop up a basic "Standard" for the quail to be made available for BYC[Quail]. I know there are like a gagillion names for these bird's colors. Honestly though, whats with all the names?? Lol, so this is where I ask for y'alls help

. It seems like a lot of the color/variety info is all word-of-mouth and nothing is "on the books."

I think it would be nice if we had an outline of the basic colors, then the varieties within those colors, yano, like how the Pharaoh color is WAY similar to the Fawn and possibly just a mutation/dilution of the brown.

After looking at various websites and these boards I have come up with these colors:
British Range - aka Rosetta
Dark British Range - aka Tibetans
Cinnamon Range - aka Red Golden. Is this just a variety within the larger British Range coloration?
Red Tibetan - aka Rosetta. These to me look like a redder [Dark] British Range. In this case, would they be closer to Dark Range or British Range? Is there a commonly recognized name for this color?
English [Whites]
Fawn - which to me looks to just be a mutation of brown making it look lighter. I have also seen this referred to as "Blonde."
Brown - aka Pharaoh/Wild/XLD, which BTW: what is the "standard" name for this color?
Tuxedo - commonly it seems that more of the common Tuxedos are pied British Ranges, possibly the Dark variety. Other tuxedo varieties I have come upon include the Manchurian (gold) and Red (not if this red comes from ).
Red - not sure of what this color looks like, too many look like variations.
Silver - never seen one of these so far.


I classify the following as their own breed within the specie seeing as how they were bred in order to attain a new physical standard outside simply color variety:
A&M [White]
Jumbo [Brown]


PLEASE HELP!! My hope is that this post will serve as a sort of make-shift Standard of Perfection for the Coturnix. As I type this out I am also organizing photos in Photoshop which I hope to have posted so it may be reviewed. I will be sure to incorporate a sort of key on the image so people may make specific comments if a bird is mislabeled, and so forth. Maybe something like the "Manchurian Variety" and each picture be labeled 1-however many there are in that said variety.

 

[JJMR794]

Range Isnt The Color, Its The Pattern. Dark, British, Cinnamon--- Those Are Colors

 

[Stellar]

Oh dear... See I have done research on the colors to get the names squared away. And I cant agree with the naming above.

There is pharaoh
Jumbo Brown
English White
Texas A and M
Manchurian Golden
British Range(Rosetta)
Dark Range (Tibetan)
Fawn/cinnamon
Red Golden
Tuxedo(in red, and in the ranges)

 

[adubsroit]

Range being the color, like lacing is to chickens (gold laced, silver laced, etc...), so it what we should really do then is classify all this so everyone (namely newbs) get the idea.

So really it would read like this:
Pattern - Range (aka Wild); Color(s): Dark, British, Cinnamon
Pattern - Tuxedo; Color(s): Red (official name for this color?), gold/Manchurian (is this a color, or pattern), and black (which is usually a Dark Range, correct?)
Pattern -

Is the term "range" for a pattern interchangeable with "wild" pattern? What all patterns are there?

 

[Stellar]

Wild type is the pharaoh.

 

[adubsroit]

Quote:
Those being the colors, are there patterns then associated with them?? Like the Manchurian Gold, that is the varieties colors, but is there a consistent pattern on the bird?

I am working from what I know of chickens and other birds. For example Tuxedos, this would be equivalent to the Pied Guinea Fowl variety. Take for example a guinea fowl that is pied and its feather still carry the pearled pattern, while some can be pied and have solid feathers... In your example you say that Tuxedos come in red and ranges: what ranges? If range is the pattern then what variations of range are known to be expressed in the pied pattern.

 

[Stellar]

Ok. The Tibetan and Rosetta are newer names of the Range. I don't know where you got the idea of red Tibetan but that is false. Dark Range is also known as the Tibetan (same bird) it's a name for the variety.

Now the Japanese coturnix is one breed. Jumbo and Texas A and M are varieties of it. They are Coturnix, that is all. I have all the color genetics written down somewhere if you are interested.

 

[adubsroit]

Quote:
I'd love info on their genetics, PM me. The Red Tibetan thing is something I picked up from the Coturnix Quail Basics. The more I read it and then read other breeders info, such as yours, the more I began to question that threads info. If you could, for my sake, please take a look at that thread and tell me what the heck their "red Tibetan" is. They are a Range, but I have no clue what their color is.

I am sorry for classifying Texas A&M and Jumbos as their own breed. I meant to categorize them as a type within the breed seeing as how they have been altered/bred by humans for their meat production.

 

[Buttercup Chillin]

Chickens and Coturnix Quail are not the same in color characteristics. The colors do not act the same. They are 2 distinctly different species. Forget Pied and Splash. You are in the world of Coturnix Quail now. Its a whole different world and much more irradic.

You might want to study the different mutations and the genetics on the coturnix, coturnix, japanica before you start classifying them.
Coturnix japanica do not have as many colors as chickens for one thing.

You will need to learn their dominant, incomplete dominant, recessive, incomplete recessive, extended, lethal, semi lethal, shafting, etc... characteristics that can come about in successive generations when breeding even inter se. Breeding certain colors together can also produce a known mutation from time to time. So there is never an absolute in breeding them.

Unlike chickens which throw few unexpected colored chicks.

quaillady has given you a list of known colors available in the USA. Not all colors are available here. Not all colors are available period. There are mutations that are only keep at labratories for study. As they are the 2nd most studied species, there is a lot of genetic information available for them on the internet and a lot of the studies come with pictures.

For instance the Genetic bases for plumage color patterns in four varieties of Japanese quail by Somes which I just reread for about the 6th time. I find it so interesting I printed it out. Its a start for you.

 

[adubsroit]

Quote:
I had an inkling that was dangerously close to stepping on toes.. I apologize for this, but I figure the best way to learn is to ask questions.

My reasoning for doing this to get a group consensus of this board of information on the Coturnix from the people who know their stuff. Never once have I gone as far as to say that I am by any means an expert in this field and am doing my best to understand quail based on my personal knowledge of birds (even if that happens to be from chickens).

In my drawing parallels to chickens I was only looking for a means of categorizing, and by no means did I mean to draw upon similarities in their genetics. My comments on the pied pattern in guineas and the tuxedo (pattern?) in coturnix does not seem to be an unfathomable similarity that those who are not equally educated in the birds could draw upon.

On this same subject, to draw on the coturnix-chicken thing: someone on another thread explained the tuxedo genes to me much like one would explain the Andalusian Blue gene. As they put it, breeding a tuxedo to a tuxedo will most likely produce 50% tuxedo, 25% (for example) will be Rosetta and the remaining 25% would be white. If you happen to know about the Andalusian Blue gene then you would see how explanations such as the one given to me by shelleyd2008 (not trying to point finger) would led one to a conclusion such as I did.

I am not meaning to start an argument, but please do no chastise my level intellect by making it seem as I do not know there is a difference between Coturnix and Chickens. As for chickens throwing unexpected colors: it happens all the time. Take into consideration that it can be difficult to tell if a chicken is split for gold or silver. For that matter, what about chicken colors like Lavender, or how combs and feathering can change on the basis of one recessive gene somewhere in their parents lineages? The one thing I have learned from these birds is that asking questions regardless of how embarrassing it may be is the best way to learn. Bare with me, I am just trying to make a legitimate effort to create some sound bank of info (a standard if you will) for those interested in quail and are confused by the bombardment of info floating around. What with all the incorrect names, like Red Tibetan, can you blame newcomers for being so confused..