What Is the Difference Between a Female Button Quail & Male Button Quail?

The undeniably adorable button quail, also known as the Chinese painted quail, presents a challenge to pet owners and breeders. The smallest of the quail family, buttons have distinguishing male and female characteristics that may be easily visible to a trained eye; even if you lack experience with these birds, you can learn to recognize qualities in their appearance and behavior in order to discriminate between sexes, and provide proper care for your quails.

  1. Appearance

    • The male button quail is generally more colorful in appearance. A female's muted color helps to camouflage her while nesting. The male quail usually displays a black and white, or all white "bib" under the chin. This characteristic is often a reliable way to distinguish between sexes; however, males with captivity-related color mutations such as all-gray or all-white may not have a bib at all. In this case, a closer examination may be necessary to distinguish whether the quail is male or female.

    Anatomy

    • Male buttons are generally smaller than hens; however, the difference in length may only be about half an inch. An egg-laying female will display larger hips visible to the trained eye and her "vent" will also appear larger than her counterpart's. During physical examination of the vent, the male may also secrete a whitish foamy substance, though this is generally not a favorable way to distinguish the gender of the bird.

    Behavior

    • The male is more aggressive then the female. After breeding, he will stand guard while his hen sits on the nest. Both male and female button quails will care for babies once hatched; but the male must be watched closely for signs of aggression because some will harm of even kill their young. The male button has a distinctive call, sometimes beginning with a low "growling" sort of sound. It will call regularly, and often, if not kept with a female. It is safe to keep a pair in the same space, but if two males are kept together they will most likely fight.

    Care

    • During breeding, hens require a hiding place from the invigorated mate. Because they will sometimes lay one unfertilized egg daily, the female quail requires additional supplements to its already protein-rich diet. She needs extra calcium, either by feeding her recycled eggshells or by giving her a store bought supplement, and natural sunlight or artificial lighting will help her maintain a healthy amount of vitamin D.