White Winged Pied

White winged pied is an understudied mutation in Coturnix quail that causes the primary feathers on the quail to be white. It is often confused for Dotted White or Panda, but these are confirmed to be separate mutations by breeders.

The only reference to the mutation in scientific literature was by Dr. Cheng with the University of British Columbia in the 1980s, who made note of a mutation, supposedly autosomal recessive, that caused quail to have white primaries (1)f. It has not been studied in a lab further. Sources for all other information are from breeders that have worked with the gene.

White winged pied is typically seen in heterozygous form. With only one copy of the gene (heterozygous), the bird will have white feathers on the wingtips. There may be some white in the breast, but most of it will be on the wings. With two copies of the gene (homozygous), the bird will have white through the breast, face, back of the head, and wings. There will be a strip of color through the back. Just like other forms of white, it is possible to breed for more or less white coloration, but when unselected for, this is what the mutation will look like. This is often mistaken for Tuxedo, but unlike Tuxedo, homozygous white winged pied will always breed true.

It is suspected to be on the white locus (S), though is not proven and there has not been much test breeding with other white mutations to confirm this.

Breeding with white winged pied:

For more information about breeding with this kind of gene, including tips and tricks and a full explanation of how these results were calculated, please see here.

White Winged Pied x White Winged Pied = 100% White Winged Pied

White Winged Pied x Wildtype = 100% White Wing Tips

White Winged Pied x White Wing Tips = 50% White Winged Pied, 50% White Wing Tips

White Wing Tips x White Wing Tips = 25% White Winged Pied, 50% White Wing Tips, 25% Wildtype

White Wing Tips x Wildtype = 50% White Wing Tips, 50% Wildtype