Cinnamon

Cinnamon (also called Fawn) is a dilution gene that causes the color of King Quail to be a light tan color. There is a large variation in shades of cinnamon quail, ranging from a very dark, grey-brown color to a lighter, reddish tan coloration.

There are two types of Cinnamon, one sex-linked, and one non-sexlinked. The sex-linked gene is not available in the United States, and all information below is only for the non-sexlinked Cinnamon. (2) Both versions were labelled recessive.

Originally, the darker shades of brown were called Fawn, and the lighter shades were called Cinnamon in the United States. It was believed that these were two separate mutations. However, it is now considered to be the same mutation, just with a wide range of presentations. (1)

The gene, locus, and allele are unknown, but it has been proven to not be on the same locus as Red Breasted, Blue Faced, or Silver loci (1),(2).

Cinnamon is recessive (2), meaning you can only see it if there are two copies of the gene. However, a bird can still carry one copy of the gene and not show it. This is listed below as a carrier.

Cinnamon x Cinnamon = 100% Cinnamon

Cinnamon x Carrier = 50% Cinnamon, 50% Carrier

Cinnamon x Non-Cinnamon = 100% Carrier

Carrier x Carrier = 25% Cinnamon, 50% Carrier, 25% Non-Cinnamon

Carrier x Non-Cinnamon = 50% Carrier, 50% Non-Cinnamon