King Quail (Button Quail)

King Quail, also widely known as Button Quail, are the smallest quail species commonly kept in Australia and one of the smallest game birds in the world. Unlike Coturnix and Bobwhite, King Quail have a native range that extends into northern Australia, making them one of the few quail species with any wild Australian population, alongside introduced and domesticated stock kept by aviculturists further south.

King Quail are kept almost exclusively as aviary or companion birds rather than for egg or meat production. Their eggs are extremely small (around 6 to 7 grams) and production volume is too low to be commercially meaningful, but the species is popular among bird keepers for its gentle temperament, attractive small size, and suitability for mixed aviaries with finches and other small birds, which they tend to coexist with peacefully on the aviary floor.

The breed comes in numerous colour mutations developed through aviculture, including white, silver, blue-faced, and pied varieties, giving hobby breeders considerable scope for selective breeding toward specific colour goals — a popular pursuit within the Australian aviculture community.

King Quail are not kept for production — egg numbers are low and eggs are too small to be commercially useful. Breeding is undertaken purely for aviary stock replacement and colour development. Hens can begin laying from around eight weeks but breeding is usually managed carefully by hobbyists to maintain colour lines and avoid overcrowding small aviaries, since King Quail establish their own social hierarchies and can become stressed in overly dense groupings.

King Quail need warm, draft-free housing, particularly important for southern Australian keepers through winter — this species is noticeably less cold-tolerant than Coturnix and benefits from supplementary heating below about 15°C overnight. They do well on the floor of a mixed aviary with finches and similar small, non-aggressive species, helping to control spilled seed and insects on the aviary floor. Standard small bird seed mixes supplemented with game bird crumble suit their dietary needs.