WWW.ZEBRAFINCH.COM

Welcome to my Button Quail Pages!

Garrie P. Landry

Phone 337-828-5957

SPECIAL NOTICE!

GO DIRECTLY

TO OUR

Button Quail

Price List!






 

The Button Quail

Coturnix chinensis

also known as the Chinese Painted Quail

and King Quail.







African Blue Quail

Coturnix adansonii

From Africa and unknown in captivity!

 



I have kept and bred Button Quail for 32 continuous years. Like to many of the birds I keep, they occupy a special place in my collection and I would never be without them. Button Quail are the most charming little game birds, and well suited to almost any bird collection. I can vividly remember seeing my very first one, and marveling at how small and colorful it was. That first vision has never changed and I still look at all of the many color varieties that I keep now an marvel at each one. Every single button quail mutation avaliable in the US, has come from our aviaries first, THAT IS FACT, NOT FICTION. I personally imported all of the newer colors (very single one) and introduced them to US breeders beginning back in 1987. I have also written and published my own book entitled The Care, Breeding and Genetics of The Button Quail. It covers every aspect of how I have kept, bred and raised these little quail during the past 2 decades. The following paragraphs are an excerpt from the book. For the entire story, buy the Book!! Garrie@zebrafinch.com

The above Painting is of a the original wild type Chinese Painted Quail (what we call Button quail), there are two distinct subspecies of the Painted Quail.

  • Coturnix chinensis chinensis (Chinese Painted Quail) (notice that the red color is restricted to the underside vent region of the male)
  • Coturnix chinensis adansonii (African Blue Quail). (notice that the red color is not on the vent region but rather on the upper back above the wing)
  • The African Harlequin quail a new and distinct species being kept and bred in the US

Only the Chinese Painted Quail is currently found in captivity in the US. I have finally located someone in South Africa who is keeping the African Blue Quail, however so far, all efforts to acquire some of them through importation have failed. Here is a pict that I received from J. Smith of one of his Blue quail, The first and only live pict I have ever seen! Its markings are quite different from the chinensis subspecies pictured above. This species is not in the US and chances are it may never be, as it is so difficult and expensive to import these birds. The subspecies found in captivity chinensis" ranges throughout southern Asia and into Australia. While there are many geographic races of this subspecies of Button Quail listed, it appears that the captive stock might have descended from one race, as I have found no noteworthy variation in the normal wild type which would suggest different races.

Below is a painting of a closely related quail called the Painted Bush Quail from, India. Bush Quails have long been kept in captivity. Even in the US during the 1960's and 1970's there were many being bred and available. Unfortunately all US Bush Quail died out years ago, however are still beingkept and bred by a few British and European Quail fanciers. The Bush Quails are very attractive and very costly. Furthermore they are extremely aggressive to all other types of birds and must be kept either alone or in large planted aviaries. I did import three pair Jungle Bush Quail from the UK in 1991 along with the newer mutations of Button Quail, but was never able to breed them successfully. Even though they layed eggs none were ever fertile. There are no living ones in US collections today

 

.

 

It should be noted that the birds we in the US refer to as Button Quail are in fact missnamed and they are not "true" Button Quail. There is a little know group of birds that are know to ornithologist and zoologist as True Button Quails. For more information on these, I have written a page about them also as I once had some of these rare True Button Quails.

 

 

If you have any questions about Button Quail?

Send me an email! Garrie@zebrafinch.com