Coturnix, Japenese and Italian are they the same?

[mrslb333]

Stupid question but I keep being asked for them by the different names. I thought they were all Coturnix just different colour variations is that right?

 

[Robo]

You are correct, all of the color variations are just coturnix with a different color. Look at it this way: there are four Chevy Astros being driven to the Alamo, well one is green, one is yellow, one is white, and one is red. They all go the same speed and will get there at the same time. Well that is before they are tweaked.

But anyway they are the same under the hood just look different. This is about what the color variations are like.

 

[shelleyd2008]

The coturnix are japanese coturnix; italian is a color variation of the japanese coturnix similar to the machurian (golden).

 

[JJMR794]

AT 1 POINT IN TIME THEY WERE CONSIDERED COMMON COTURNIX WHICH WOULD BE THE COLORS ORIGINATING FROM ASIA... MANCHURIANS, ITALIANS, TIBETANS, ETC... AND THEN JAPONESE COTURNIX. BUT THEY HAVE SINCE BENN RECLASSIFIED AS ALL BEING Coturnix coturnix japonica OR JAPANESE QUAIL??? ITS 1 OF THOSE SILLY LIL MINOR TRIVIAL DETAILS REALLY. THEY'RE ALL COTURNIX--- OVER THERE YOU HAVE VERY SPECIFIC COLOR NAMES FOR THEM OVER HERE THEY HAVE EARNED AT LEAST 4 NAMES PER SIZE, COLOR, AND PATTERN

SEEMS LIKE FOLKS HERE LEARN A NAME AND JUST APPLY IT TO ANY BIRD THAT IS CLOSE WETHER ITS CORRECT OR NOT... I HAVE FOLKS WHO CALL ANY COTURNIX IRREGUARDLESS OF SIZE OR COLOR "PHAROAH QUAIL", "JAP QUAIL", AND ANYTHING WHITE IS AN "A&M"

THIS SYSTEM... OR LACK THEREOF, HERE IS PRETTY MESSED UP AND CRAZY, AND WE DONT EVEN HAVE ALL THE COLORS YOU GUYS DO.

THEN THERE'S MY 70 YR OLD FATHER WHO INVARIABLY CALLS THEM CHICKEN COLOR NAMES..... MY GOLDENS, WETHER ITALIAN OR MANCHURIAN ARE ALL "BUFF QUAIL" AND MY BROWNS ARE "PARTRIDGE QUAIL"

 

[Peacerose]

Your complaint about scientific names/common names runs rampant throughout the plant and animal kingdoms. Breeders, growers, retailers all tweak names to try to increase sales. Animal names are regulated by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). Even these people disagree and change their minds regularly. So why tear your hair out over it?

The scientific name Coturnix coturnix japonica tells its own story: It follows the form Genus species subspecies.

Genus = Coturnix
species = coturnix
subspecies = japonica

Coturnix coturnix japonica is a subspecies of the common quail of Europe and Asia. It is differenciated into its own subspecies because years of domestication and breeding have no doubt brought about differences in egg laying rate, body weight, and temperament. The Coturnix quail raised domestically in Europe, Asia, and America today are the Japanese quail Coturnix coturnix japonica. In turn, the Japanese quail was developed from the common quail Coturnix coturnix.