American Pansy is a newly classified mutation. Originally thought to be basic Redhead or Sparkly, or some combination with fawn, it was sold in the United States as early as 2010. However, recent test breeding by Jen Jordan and Rebecca Lynch have found an isolated, separate mutation.

It acts similar to Sparkly and regular Redhead, in that it increases red and black pigment, creating larger "splotches" on the bird. In homozygous, isolated form, it is believed to cause a deep red color with white tips and black centers, almost mimicking the white laced red variety in chickens.

It is unknown how prevalent this gene is and further studying is currently underway.

Andalusian is a dilution in coturnix quail that causes the bird to have a light grey color and white wingtips with only one copy. With two copies of the gene, it is almost completely lethal, and most quail will die in the shell without hatching. Those that survive will be a light, pale white color. It is different from silver in that there will be patches of "normal" colored feathers across the body.

It is mixed into the Schofield Silver Collection, though the gene has been isolated in the US and abroad.

Autosomal Cinnamon creates a light orange, tan-colored bird with dark, ruby red eyes. It looks visually similar to Sex-Linked Cinnamon, but is a simple autosomal recessive. It is also referred to as "orange" and "buff" in studies.

It is semi-lethal, with a large increase in mortality right as the chicks hatch until they reach adulthood. Birds that do survive are often sensitive to light. It is not believed to be in public hands at this time - all of the public lines of Cinnamon are Sex-Linked Cinnamon instead of Autosomal.

There are currently two proposed modifier genes that extend the black coloration of a quail. They both made the bird overall darker, and it is unknown if they are two separate mutations or just two different expressions. The first, "Myrle", is in the United States, while the second, "Onyx", is in Australia.

Both need more research.

Black-at-Hatch is a gene in coturnix quail that, in heterozygous form, causes the bird to have partial black back as a chick that molts into a slightly darker shade of brown as the chick feathers out. In homozygous form, the gene is lethal, causing the bird to hemorrhage in the embryo and fail to fully develop.

It is not believed to be in public hands at this time, though still exists in university labs.

Blau, often called Blue, in coturnix quail is similar to blue in chickens or turkeys. It has a wide range of shades, from a light grey to dark blue, and is currently compatible with every known mutation.

In heterozygous (one copy) blue, it makes the bird a light grey on Pharaoh and EB bases. On Fawn bases (Italian and Manchurian), the bird will be a orangish ginger color. It doesn't change the underlying base pattern and is still easy to sex and tell the base pattern of the quail.

In homozygous form, the bird will be a very light cream to pure white. It isn't usually possible to figure out the base pattern or sex without vent sexing.

Blue is one of the mutations in the Schofield Silver Collection. It doesn't have any known health defects in any form, and isn't on the same locus as Silver, Andalusian, or Lavender.

Calico is a gene in coturnix quail that causes the bird to have wider striations (lines) on their back, and decreased overall patterning. It was originally classified as recessive but later reclassified as incomplete dominant, meaning you can see it in heterozygous form.

In homozygous form, the classic "calico" look on pharaoh has increased and very wide cream/yellow striations on the back, along with more black markings and almost no breast spots on females and fainter colors against the mask. They can still be feather sexed by the mask. On EB, calico enhancement looks almost identical to fawn enhancement, in that it creates yellow barring across the feathers.

In heterozygous form, the markings are incredibly faint. The "lines" along the back will be slightly wider and the breast spots will be slightly reduced overall.

Celadon is a gene in coturnix quail that causes the hens to lay light blue eggs. The egg can be any shade of blue, from a very pale, almost white color to a vibrant robin's egg blue and even some light shades of green. Eggs may be a solid color or speckled with brown.

It is completely separate from plumage genes--the celadon gene can be bred into any color or size of coturnix quail, and the color of the egg does not change the color of the feather. The celadon gene also does not "develop", the bird will either lay blue eggs for its whole life or not at all. It also is entirely recessive, meaning there are no signs if a bird carries the gene.

The clench gene in quail is a little-studied mutation that causes quail to be born with curled toes that didn't self-correct, and is strong enough to prevent the chicks from walking properly on their feet. The toes were curled up to the top joint on the foot, and both chicks and adults. The bird tends to walk on either the side of their curled feet, or the actual joint itself.

This is a different gene and more extreme than the curled toe gene found in chickens. A similar clenched toe trait can also be found in chickens that fail to develop their leg muscles properly during hatching, either from a riboflavin or linoliec acid deficiency, or from pulling the chick from the shell without the chance for it to properly develop its leg and toe muscles.

Curly is a mutation only found in quail that is different from the frizzle seen in chickens. It is a completely recessive gene that causes the feathers to look ruffled through the back and wings. The bird will have this ruffled feather look from hatch through maturity, though it will look the most frizzle-like and curly around 10 days of age.

It is worth noting that Curly is also different from normal feather damage from breeding. Curly is a natural gene and the ruffled feathers will stay constant through all of the adult molts, especially the bird is separated from others.

Defective feathering causes the barbs on the feathers of quail to become twisted, so that they have an overall ragged appearance. It can be seen at hatch and gets more prominent as the birds grow their feathers in. Females tend to be more impacted than males.

It is controlled by two separate genes, one dominant and the other recessive, meaning that it is hard to breed. It is not currently believed to be in public hands at this time.

Dotted White is a mutation in coturnix quail that increases the amount of white in a bird.

In heterozygous form (often called tuxedo), the bird will have varying amounts of white. Typically, the white will be focused around the breast and wingtips of the bird, though it can be bred to be as little as a few feathers, or as much as half of the bird. Specific lines can be bred to show more or less white consistently, and are often called tuxedo.

In homozygous form, the bird will be almost all white, with a small dot of the original base pattern on the top of the head (hence the name 'dotted white', though these are also called "English white"). This dot can also be bred to be bigger or smaller, and some lines do not have the dot at all.

Dotted White are often mistakenly called Texas A&M. This is incorrect, as Texas A&M no longer exist.

Downless is causes quail to hatch out with minimal to no feathering. Some chicks will be "patchy", and others don't have any feathers or fluff. After a few molts, most chicks do grow in some feathering. Most quail with downless will appear completely normal as an adult, with complete feathering, though some birds will still miss patches of feathers.

Males are sterile, though females can lay some eggs. It is controlled by two separate recessive genes that work together to create the overall downless mutation. This makes it incredibly difficult to track through different flocks. Recently, birds have been bred by Thieving Otter Farm that match the overall description of Downless as well as the affects of the gene. Because of this, it is suspected that the two recessive genes are in pubic hands and just very rare to be bred together.

The ear-tuft gene in Japanese quail causes the bird to grow feathers from the side of its face. It is a different, more extreme mutation than the Throat Tuft gene also seen in quail, and similar to the Tufted gene in chickens though it is recessive and not completely lethal.

It causes quite a few structural, facial, and ear issues in quail, more common than seen with Throat Tufted birds and more extreme. When crossed with Throat Tuft, there are several additional defects that pop up, including bones protruding from the face. In both cases, the bird can still thrive and reproduce.

It is not currently believed to be in public hands, though breeders have reported birds with feathers coming from the face.

EB is the mutation that causes both Rosetta (one copy of the gene) and Tibetan (two copies of the gene). In both cases, it makes the entire bird a dark brown color, including the beak and skin on the feet. Darker birds are almost universally preferred for EB. These birds must be vent-sexed, as the entire breast is a brown color instead of feather sexable.

In Rosetta (heterozygous EB), the bird will be almost entirely reddish brown, but will have light yellow shafts going vertically up each feather (1). These will not breed true, as they have one copy of EB.

In Tibetan, the entire bird will be a dark brown, and the shaft of each feather will be brown instead of yellow. They can be a very dark, almost black color, but are not to be confused with Recessive Black or other dark birds. These will breed true.

Fawn is the mutation that causes both Italian (one copy of the gene) and Manchurian (two copies of the gene). In both cases, it makes the bird a light yellow color, with black and red markings. It is feather sexable in both forms--males will often have red faces or markings on the head, while females have two fine black lines on the head.

For Italian (heterozygous Fawn), the bird will be a golden straw color with black "v" shaped marks on each feather. They should have a clean mask, with a thin strap of off-white feathering under their chins. Poorly marked Italians will not have black on every feather, but should still have more markings than a Manchurian.

For Manchurian (homozygous Fawn) the bird will be the same straw color, but ideally without black markings. They will often have white shafting across the back, and while there may be some residual black "v" marks, these should still be significantly less markings than in Italian.

Fee is a dilution mutation that changes the brown plumage in coturnix quail to be grey. It does not change the pattern of the feathers itself, but rather the underlying color.

In homozygous form (two copies), the bird will be entirely black, white, and shades of grey. In hetero form (one copy of fee, one "natural"), the plumage will be mainly shades of black and white, though there will be some color leakage. In both forms, the fee is clearly visible.

Fray is a mutation in coturnix quail that causes the bird to have mild ruffled or missing feathers across the back of the head and neck. In extreme cases, the bird will be missing most of it's feathers. It works similarly to the Defective Feathers gene.

It is controlled by two separate genes, one dominant and the other recessive, and is not believed to be in public hands at this time.

Ginger is a recent gene discovered in the United States by Michael Rose with Southwest Gamebirds and sold Rebecca Lynch of Thieving Otter Farm. It was released in the SSSS Collection in 2023, though it was in the United States before the release. Ginger dilutes the color of the bird but doesn't change the underlying pattern.

It looks very similar to Roux, making the whole bird a few shades lighter than both Roux and Sex-linked Brown. It is sex-linked recessive, just as Roux is, meaning that if paired correctly, chicks can be sexed at hatch based on color alone.

Imperfect albino is a pleiotropic gene (meaning it affects more than just plumage/feather color) in quail that strips the bird of almost all of the melanin. The bird will be almost entirely white with yellowish undertones and will also have red, sensitive eyes.

It is also sexlinked, meaning that it is possible to set a hatch where you can tell males from females as day-olds. It is similar to the sexlinked Cinnamon, but albino will be whiter overall and have a yellow-grey undercolor instead of the brown undercolor of cinnamon. Albino will also have more sensitive and brighter red of eyes, and the heads of chicks will often be see-through.

Albino is not common and many breeders avoid it due to the eye issues and other health concerns. It is in public hands in the United States and abroad, but mostly is just found in labs and very few people publically sell albino lines.

In homozygous form, Lavender will appear any range of grey, with the main pattern showing through. Reddish tones around the neck are also common. It tends to have more base pattern and color than hetero silver would when on a Pharaoh background, and also doesn't have white wingtips unless it has white winged pied or tuxedo dilutions over it. Because Lavender is recessive, you will not see it in heterozygous form.

It is unknown how prominent Lavender is as a whole in the United States, or in other countries across the world. It has been reported to be mixed into the SSC collection, though it is not isolated and there are no "true" Lavender lines being publically sold in the US. A majority of grey birds are actually heterozygous Silver and Andalusian instead of lavender.

Lavender can look nearly identical to the Andalusian, silver, and Blau mutations, as all three have a wide range of grey colors. All three are also mixed in the Schofield Silver Collection bloodline. The best way to tell them apart is by their genetic background and their offspring.

There are multiple separate lethal mutations grouped together here for Coturnix quail. Hereditary Multiple Malformation (HMM), Stumpy Limb and Short Beak all present very similar, in that they are lethal in homozygous form and indetectable in heterozygous form. It has not been confirmed whether they are separate mutations or not, though each presents slightly differently in the embryo.

Almost all of them will kill the developing embryo before they hatch in varying stages of development, and are not believed to be in public hands at this time.

Lethal yellow, not to be confused with Fawn or Calico, is a gene on ASIP in Coturnix quail. In heterozygous form, it causes light, straw-colored feathers similar to Italian, but with some associated health issues. In homozygous form, the gene is lethal and most embryos will die within a few days of development. It is not currently believed to be in public hands at this time.

Light down is an incomplete dominant mutation in coturnix that causes birds with one copy to have slightly lighter color with wider striations across the back. With two copies of the gene, the quail appears a light cream color but always has neurological issues and dies within a week if it manages to hatch at all.

It is not currently believed to be in public hands at this time.

There are a few different mutations that can cause crooked neck or other neck issues in quail. The main ones documented here include the Backdrawer, Star Gazing, Congenital Loco, and Crooked Neck.

All of them are considered to be autosomal recessive, meaning that it can hide in a flock. They are grouped here because all of them present very similarly, cause the same issues in quail, and are inherited in the same manner. It is worth noting that most of these mutations and general neck issues in birds can also be caused from much more common nutritional issues.

Orange skin is a suspected new mutation discovered by Tamara Roswell in the early 2023. The gene most notably causes the bird to have orange feet, and when butchered, will have vibrant orange skin across the carcass. It presents with no currently known health issues, and has been suggested to be autosomal recessive, though this isn't confirmed. It has only been seen on Oz Snowy in this line, though it is unknown and unlikely to be linked.

It is unknown how prevalent this mutation is outside of the line in Australia, and it has never been formally studied in a lab. Orange feet have been documented across Europe, though it is unknown whether this is a similar or separate mutation or how common it is. More research needs to be done.

Oz Sandy is a sex-linked dominant mutation found in coturnix quail that causes the bird to be a light tan/grey color. It similar in color to Egyptian Fee, though completely different inheritance. It is often confused with Oz Snowy. It also is different across countries. The Australian mutation has been the most studied, and thus is referenced here.

On Pharaoh, Oz Sandy looks similar to Egyptian Fee. Birds will be a greyish tan color, with little red on the hens and some copper color across the breast and face of cocks. It is hard to tell a Oz Snowy from an Oz Sandy on Pharaoh. Sandy will be very consistent across Pharoah.

Because Oz Sandy is a sex-linked mutation, it can be used to create onetime batches were the chicks can be sexed at hatch with 100% accuracy. It is found in Australia, and has been said to also be in the United States and UK (3), however the lines outside of Australia are very different, with some breeders even reporting a recessive gene instead of dominant (3).

Oz Snowy (not to be confused with Oz Sandy) is a recessive mutation in Coturnix quail that causes a bird to be either shades of tan or light cream. It has not been studied in a lab. It was originally documented in Australia, and has been imported to several countries abroad, including the US and UK, though the phenotypes of UK birds vary.

On a pharaoh base, Oz Snowy creates a warm grey color, very similar to Oz Sandy and Egyptian Fee. It will be slightly darker than Oz Snowy. On fawn, however, Oz Snowy creates a light cream colored bird, with black and orange markings. It is unknown how it interacts on EB bases.

Oz Snowy also presents with possible health issues, including failure to thrive and mortality in the shell, but this needs more study.

Panda is a gene in coturnix quail that is similar to dotted white in that it causes the bird to present with almost a tuxedo-like or white-winged-pied type pattern. However, it is different than both in that it is entirely recessive. It is also similar but separate from splash in the markings that it throws.

With two copies of the gene, panda creates an almost all-white bird, with two big patches of color across the back of the head and back of the body. This color will match the underlying base color and any additional dilutions. For example, if the panda gene is bred into a silver fawn quail, the two patches of color will be a light grey with basic fawn patterning.

Pansy is a pattern modifier gene that is most commonly seen on pharaoh. It was originally classified as recessive, but can be seen in heterozygous form.

In homozygous form, the bird will have a white or light yellow base color, with black blotches on the majority of each feather. There may be some red on each feather as well. The males will have a deep red face, while the females will have two black stripes through the cheek similar to pharaoh.

In heterozygous form, the bird will have slightly more barring and a "blotchier", more rounded look to the patterning. It is very hard to see in heterozygous form.

Partial featherlessness is a mutation that causes coturnix quail to have patches of bare skin across the back of their head, back down, stomach, thighs, and chin. It has been confirmed in a lab, though it is still under-researched and needs more information.

It is a partially lethal mutation, with high mortality in chicks from hatch to maturity. It is possible for birds to survive to adulthood and reproduce, though fairly rare. Chicks will have no buds for feathers in the areas mentioned, and they do not grow the feathers in as they mature.

Pharaoh is the purest form of color-- it is what a quail looks like without any other dilutions, bases, mutations, or otherwise. They don't have a locus or inheritance because it is the absence of anything on top of it. Without any mutations, it will always breed true. Pharaoh is essential for breeding programs as it acts as a "test color" to breed everything back to, mainly because it is so predictable and can be considered a clean slate.

They are an even brown color with wing patterning. Backs should present straight, even, white vertical lines on both sexes. Each feather should have eye-like black patterns on back feathers and wing feathers will present a wavy-type pattern. Masks should be clean and crisp, and both sexes should present a thin white chin strap across the bottom of their face.

They are feather sexable at three weeks. Females will have black chest speckling while males will have a rusty, clean chest. Males with SLB will also have a rusty, reddish face, though this is not ideal.

Porcupine is an understudied gene in chickens, pigeons, and quail. It has been most studied in Coturnix, and causes extremely low fertility and high mortality in all species. In homozygous form, it causes the barbs of the feather to curl together, creating a quill, porcupine-like look to the feathers.

There are no issues to the health of the bird or the barbs of the feathers itself, it just affects the fertility and how the barbs interact with other feathers.

Progressive Pied is an understudied mutation in coturnix quail that presents similar to the mottling gene in chickens. It is different from the Progressive Pied often seen in peafowl, as it is not lethal. It is believed to be the same genes as the German "Getupft".

Birds will start out with minimal white feathering as chicks, and then with each molt, the amount of white feathers will progressively increase. The white will typically start around the head and neck area, and then progress to the entire body.

Recessive Black is a unique mutation in coturnix quail. Though it looks like Tibetan or Rosetta, the mutation is actually closer related to fawn. It causes the bird to have a dark brown, almost plumage, with white coming through at the throat and breast. Pink and yellow feet separate it out from the typical EB look.

It is not currently believed to be in public hands at this time, though it has been tested in several labs in Asia and Europe as late as 2008.

Red egg is a recessive mutation in Coturnix quail that causes the ground color as well as the shell color in the egg vary in color from a pale pink to a deeper red. It has only been studied once in a lab, and is unknown if it is in public hands, but has been proven to exist and is believed to interact with Celadon.

In order, the wildtype egg is most dominant, followed by Celadon, then Red Eggshell.

Roux is a dilution gene that causes the entire bird to be a reddish color. It does not change the pattern of the bird itself, but rather changes all of the brown and black plumage to be tinted red. It is very similar to the Ginger mutation, although it has more of a red tint and is slightly darker than Ginger, but still lighter than the sex-linked brown mutation.

Roux is sexlinked, so it can be used to create a hatch where the offspring can be sexed immediately at hatch. This is done by crossing a homozygous Roux male over non-Roux females. Any base pattern can be used.

Rusty is a mutation in quail that causes them to turn a bright orange color, brighter than Roux and likely brighter than Ginger as well, though a similar dilution. While Roux and Ginger affect the whole feather of the bird and will be a pale red all the way through, the birds with Rusty will have a slate blue undercolor and fluff.

It has only been tested once on Pharaoh and it is unknown how common it is outside of a lab setting. It is confirmed to be recessive and not sex-linked, but the locus, gene, and allele that it is on is unknown, as well as how it interacts with any other gene except curly.

The Sex-Linked Brown gene in coturnix quail causes the bird to be a slightly lighter shade of brown than wildtype--in between the clean pharaoh color and pale red color of Ginger and Roux. It was originally used in production flocks to sex chicks at hatch, but the differences between SLB and clean are faint in adults and even harder to see as chicks.

Sex-linked brown is believed to be fairly common in backyard flocks, as it is hard to see and even harder to breed out. It is recessive, meaning you have to test breed individual birds for several generations to ensure they don't have the gene.

The cinnamon gene in coturnix quail results in a light brown or dun colored plumage. The gene is a partial expression of albino, causing the bird to have pink eyes on top of lighter pigment overall. It is also likely related to the

Cinnamon birds often have health issues associated with the eye color, though there are confirmed stable lines in the United States.

It is sex-linked and recessive, meaning that it is possible to breed a one-time hatch where the chicks are sexable at hatch. This is done by crossing cinnamon cocks over Pharaoh or other non-cinnamon hens. The female chicks will be cinnamon at hatch, while males will be cinnamon split. This cross isn't often used commercially due to the the slower growth and structure issues associated with cinnamon.

The Short Barb gene in Japanese quail causes the feathers to have thin ends, giving the bird an overall more frayed or shaggy look that doesn't go away after any molt. The flight feathers will also have slight waves across the edge and a thickened line.

There are no health defects associated with the short barb gene, but it is not believed to be in public hands at this time.

Silver is a mutation found on the same gene for both Coturnix quail and mice, and is similar to a mutation in humans as well. It is best studied in mice, though a few studies have been done on quail.

Silver in quail is a light grey color across the bird in heterozygous form (one copy of the gene), but has the same underlying base pattern, just with a different color. The bird may or may not have white wingtips without any additional white mutations. In homozygous form (two copies of the gene), the bird will be a pale cream, almost white color. It is considered part of the Schofield Silver Collection, along with Andalusian and Lavender.

Silver in mice presents as a grey colored coat in heterozygous form, and a light cream in homozygous form, similar to in birds.

In homozygous form for both species, there is a lethal gene involved. For quail, a majority of the chicks with two copies of silver will die in the shell, and the birds that survive and hatch will often be deformed and not survive to adulthood. For mice and humans, it can cause issues with pigmentation, vision, and other defects.

Sparkly is an incomplete dominant mutation that causes increased black patterning on coturnix quail. It doesn't change much of the coloring, but can give the bird an overall darker or more red look. Both forms of Sparkly create more black barring on each feather, and extend the chest spots down the breast of both males and females. Quail can still be feather sexed by the mask and overall coloration on most forms.

With one copy of the gene, Sparkly is much less prominent but still easily seen. It will still extend the patterning through the back and wingspread, but less patterning overall through the breast.

It is on the E locus of the MC1R gene, which is the same as Extended Brown (Tibetan and Rosetta) and Calico.

The splash mutation in coturnix quail, located on the S locus (EDNRB2), was first recognized, isolated, and named by Tamara Rowsell in late 2019 to early 2020 in Australia. This mutation has likely existed for much longer but was only recently identified.

In homozygous form, splash will have some color through the head and face, and then the entire back will be one strip of color, with some mottling of color through the wings. The majority of the face and breast will be white, with some possible smut throughout.

Strawberry is a proposed and under-studied mutation discovered by Tamara Rowsell with Kamilah Quail in Australia in 2022. It is currently believed to be recessive, and appeared in a line of Oz Calico (1). It causes the bird to have a much lighter and pale red/pink tint when compared to typical calico or Oz calico.

It has not been isolated on pharaoh and is unknown how it affects other colors or how prevalent it is in Australia or across the world. More testing is also needed to confirm the gene, locus, and other information.

Throat Tuft is a mutation in Coturnix quail that causes them to grow one or two feathers from the side of their throat. It is a separate gene from both the Ear Tuft mutation also found in Coturnix, and the overall Tufted mutation found in chickens.

It can cause some mild facial structure issues in homozygous form, but doesn't typically affect the health of the bird and isn't lethal. I also is not recommended to breed it with Ear Tufts because it causes a host of growth deformities. It is not currently believed to be in public hands, though breeders have reported birds with feathers on their face.

White bib is a possible mutation that causes coturnix quail to have white feathers underneath the chin. It has not been well-studied, and some breeders believe it to be a natural expression of EB instead of a separate mutation altogether.

Birds with a white bib appear to have a fairly consistent phenotype when not selected for, though it can be bred to show more or less white across the face. More research is needed across the board with this potential mutation.

The White Crescent gene in Coturnix quail is described to be a simple autosomal recessive mutation that causes the bird to have a thin white band of feathers across the breast. It is linked to the EB mutation, meaning that it affects primarily birds with a Tibetan or Rosetta base, though it is not on the same locus and can be found on other varieties as well.

It was discovered in Canada in the late 1970s among a line of tuxedo EB. It is unknown if it currently exists in public hands, but could be a contributing factor for the "banded" look seen in some lines of black and EB in the United States, and overall white leakage in quail internationally.

The white eggshell gene in coturnix causes the quail to lay a white-colored egg. Both the outer shell and the inner membrane will be a chalky white color, and while the outside may have spots, hens generally lay spotted eggs at the beginning and then phase to all white.

Much like celadon, it is a completely recessive gene that is not linked to any plumage color or type. It has not been well studied or documented, and it is unclear whether the mutation is currently in public hands or not, or how the gene interacts with Red Egg or Celadon.

White Winged Pied is an understudied mutation in Coturnix quail that causes the primary feathers of the quail to be white. In heterozygous form, the white will be limited to the wingtips. In homozygous form, the white will extend into the entire wing and through the breast and face. The back of the bird will still typically be the underlying pattern.

It is believed to be on the S locus with the other base patterns, but has never been formally tested in a lab. It is fairly common in backyard flocks.