The males of the African blue quail (Coturnix adansonii) are quite easy to distinguish from wild-coloured males of the Chinese painted quail species (Coturnix chinensis).
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How can we distinguish pure-bred African blue quail from Chinese painted quail?
African blue quail males:
- have absolutely no red feathers on the chest and on the belly: they are completely blue from the bib until the underbelly.
- the back is completely blue, without traces of brown colouration. They are well visible black spots/markings but never clear longitudinal striations.
- the bib is the same as Chinese painted quail but goes more down below.
- the shoulders and the wings are red.
African blue quail females:
- are darker, mostly on the head and on the back.
The males of the African blue quail (Coturnix adansonii) could easily be confused with the males of the recessive ‘US Red-breasted’ mutation of the Chinese painted quail (Coturnix chinensis). Fortunately, this is not the case for females, they are totally different!
How can we distinguish pure-bred African blue quail from the US Red-breasted mutation of the Chinese painted quail?
Significative differences on males:
- “US Red-breasted” mutants are full of red feathers on the breast and on the belly what African blue quail don’t have.
- “US Red-breasted” mutants have a black head and African blue quail have a blue head.
- “US Red-breasted” mutants have no white bib, only a little and fine white collar below the
Significative differences on females:
- “US Red-breasted” females are impossible to confuse with African blue quail, they are completely different, see the picture below!
