| King Quail | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Galliformes |
| Family: | Phasianidae |
| Subfamily: | Perdicinae |
| Genus: | Coturnix |
| Species: | C. chinensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Coturnix chinensis Linnaeus, 1766 |
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| Synonyms | |
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Exalfactoria chinensis |
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The King Quail, Coturnix chinensis also known as Chinese Painted Quail, Chun-chi, Asian Blue Quail or Blue-breasted Quail is in the same family as the pheasants Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds.
This species is the smallest "true quail" and is quite common in aviculture worldwide. In the wild they range from southeastern Asia to Oceania with 10 different subspecies. It sometimes goes by the name "button Quail", though this name properly refers to similar-looking but unrelated birds of the genus Turnix.
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The King Quail comes in many colors from blue to brown, silver, white, white and brown, grey, grey white brown blue etc, and have orange feet.
They can live up to 13 years under good care but usually 5-7.
There are nine recognized subspecies:
Clutch size varies anywhere from 5 to 13 eggs. Before incubation starts all the eggs composing the clutch will be laid. In captivity, if the female lays too many eggs, they should be taken, as after about 10 days they go cold and die. In captivity, the ideal number of eggs in a clutch is 6 to 8. The baby quails hatch after about 19 days and look a lot like chicken chicks but smaller.
King Quail are not listed as threatened on the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
This quail has become very popular to keep and breed; numerous mutations have been developed. They are quite hardy once they have adjusted to their surroundings and will keep the bottom of an aviary spotless. The cost of purchasing and maintaining them is very little. They are hyperactive breeders: a female will lay an egg a day if kept on the proper diet. She will make a soft "crowing" noise to attract a mate. These quail take only a small amount of time to feed and water and, in some cases, they have been known to become hand-tame.