Coturnix and Button Quail Info NEEDED

[Rozzie]

Quote:
The same as any other coturnix color. Meat, eggs, or with strange people like myself, pets.

 

[Rozzie]

Perhaps we should clarify for those of you not familiar with the various bird colors.

The birds that we commonly call coturnix (or Japanese Quail or Pharaoh Quail) are part of the following scientific classification (this is common knowledge & does not need a citation. All written material here is my own. This is not some cut/paste job. Any errors are my own fault.

):

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Galliformes
Family: Phasianidae
Genus: Coturnix
Species: coturnix

We usually refer to a living organism by using its Genus & species. The Genus name is capitalized. The species name is not capitalized.
Thus humans are Homo sapiens.
The birds we refer to on this board as coturnix are Coturnix coturnix. Yes, the genus and species names are the same, except for the capitalization.

To give an example that you may be familiar with:
Modern humans are actually a subspecies of Homo sapiens. Thus, we are actually Homo sapiens sapiens. This differentiates our modern human species from some of our more recent ancestral forms or related subspecies that may have branched off the same ancestors and died out. A subspecies is a way of breaking down a species by focusing on minor differences. (Not going to discuss evolution of humans here. This is an illustration only.)

In the same way, you can also break down Coturnix coturnix (the genus & species) into subspecies. Subspecies within an animal species sometimes focus on a particular area of the world. Thus Coturnix coturnix africana is a subspecies of the Coturnix coturnix. Animals of the same species can develop a little bit differently because of geographic isolation. So, animals in one place may be a little bigger than in another place or have other minor differences. These are usually so closely related though that interbreeding isn't a problem. Interbreeding, if these animals are brought together (often by humans) causes these slight differences to blur.

Additional confusion comes in because sometimes it is not clear if a bird is different enough to qualify as its own species, or whether it should be considered a subspecies of another species. I've seen this confusion when reading about Coturnix japonica. Some resources list it as a separate species within the Coturnix genus. Some seem to list it as a subspecies of Coturnix coturnix (thus Coturnix coturnix japonica). There may be scientific articles that have clarified this issue. I have not looked for them.

When we use terms like Manchurian Coturnix or Tibetan Coturnix, we are using Common Names, not scientific names. Thus they are a bit confusing. Sometimes they are many common names for the same animal species. Even so, the names listed here are all part of the Coturnix coturnix . You can think of them as a way to differentiate Coturnix coturnix by their colors. We could differentiate them by weight instead (Jumbo would be an example.)

It's sort of like talking about a Yellow Lab versus a Chocolate Lab versus a Black Lab. A yellow lab and a black lab can breed and have puppies. The puppies will still be 100% Labrador Retriever. You'd have to understand the color genetics to know what you might get from the mix, or take your chances, cross them, and see what happens. Either way, they are still Labrador Retrievers. This is actually a good example of what I posted above. A dog is of the genus Canis, species lupus, subspecies familiaris. The name Labrador Retriever is a common name we have given to a specific breed or variety within the subspecies we think of as the domestic dog. So is the Chihuahua or the Great Dane. They can all cross with each other, though it would be a spectacle to watch the Chihuahua and the Great Dane and might be fatal.

It's the same with the birds we are commonly referring to as coturnix (which is often used as a common name, not just a scientific name, which is why I did not put it in italics here. This use is a common name usage). A Tibetan / Rosetta / Manchurian etc are all different colors. We might think of them a little like breeds though it is not yet as formal as it is with dogs. This is not something people have been working on refining for as long as they have been refining dog breeds. Perhaps in another 100 or 200 years, though, these will qualify as separate breeds or varieties within the same quail species/subspecies. Some of these colors originally come about because of genetic mutations (i.e. evolution). We've just helped speed up the process and have saved these genes by human selection for breeding.

If I'm wrong on any of this, I trust that one of our science experts will step in. (Quail lady, perhaps?) It's been a long time since I've formally studied this type of thing, but I think I still have the basics down fairly well.

Additionally, all of the terms above for names of genus, species, subspecies, etc. should be in italics. I've gone back and added those. When we use a common name, we don't italicize. Normally, when people refer to quail they are raising as coturnix, they are just referring to the birds they have that fall somewhere into the Coturnix coturnix or Coturnix coturnix japonica (or Coturnix japonica) classifications. They aren't usually differentiating based on color. However, if you see names like Manchurian, English, etc. then they are talking about recognizable color differences. Please understand that these aren't formal, so one person may describe the same color by a different name than the next person. There is no body that I'm aware of yet that has established FORMAL scientific classification schemes for quail colors. Remember, too, that common names may differentiate based on size (Jumbo, etc.) A&M is a sort of combination of the two, referring to a larger white bird...

 

[Robo]

Good biology lesson. I can do a punnet square of offsprings, and list genuses but that's about it.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

I only have 1 button that is Very friendly. If you handle your bumbles alot when they're bees ( <

) they can sometimes become very friendly ..or at least "Friendly"

 

[JustAChickenLittle&More]

Hey Overrun; do they buy cortunix for something specific, for example who would be your best customer so to speak? Just wondering as I know of a few people down in GA that are always looking to buy quail. I know nothing about any quail so any info would help. Thanks !

 

[BobwhiteQuailLover]

Are Red Golden Quail easily tamed?

 

[Robo]

Who is over run?

 

[BobwhiteQuailLover]

I think he saw the title under your username?

 

[Robo]

Probably BobwhiteQuailLover, oh, and I'd say they either want them for meat or dog training. I think they use coturnix in competitions. They are probably training young dogs though. Or they could want some eggs from them. Do they ask for cocks or hens?

 

[BobwhiteQuailLover]

You talkin to me??

Are Red Golden Quail easily tamed?