---
title: "Japanese Quail"
description: "Coturnix japonica — Birds. The Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica), also known as the coturnix quail, is a species of Old World quail found in East Asia."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/japanese-quail
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Japanese Quail

> Coturnix japonica — Birds. The Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica), also known as the coturnix quail, is a species of Old World quail found in East Asia.

- Scientific name: *Coturnix japonica*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `grassland` (Fields & meadows), `farm` (Farm)
- iNaturalist observations: 916
- Wikidata: [Q716869](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q716869)
- iNaturalist taxon: [791](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/791)

## Names

- en: Japanese Quail
- de: Japanwachtel
- es: Codorniz japonesa
- fr: Caille du Japon
- nl: Japanse kwartel
- pl: Przepiórka japońska

## Countries with the most observations

US (184), CN (55), RU (31), HK (28), TW (15), AU (14), KR (11), DE (8), CA (6), CR (4), JP (4), MN (4)

## Summary

The Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica), also known as the coturnix quail, is a species of Old World quail found in East Asia.  First considered a subspecies of the common quail, it is now considered as a separate species. The Japanese quail has played an active role in the lives of humanity since the 12th century, and continues to play major roles in industry and scientific research. Where it is found, the species is abundant across most of its range. Currently, there are a few true breeding mutations of the Japanese quail. The varieties currently found in the United States include Pharaoh, Italian, Manchurian, Tibetan…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_quail

## Photo

![Japanese Quail](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/japanese-quail/medium.jpg)

Photo: Sara · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/199795506

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/japanese-quail?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).