Rosetta Coturnix Quail
The one-copy version of Tibetan — dark birds washed with rusty red, especially on the breast. Never breeds true (and can't), which is half the fun of keeping them.
What they look like
Rosettas look like a Tibetan that walked through copper dust: dark brown body with warm rusty-red bleeding through the breast and flanks. Males often glow redder than hens, though it's not reliable enough to sex by.
How the genetics work
Rosetta is Extended Brown heterozygous (E/e+). Because they carry one dark gene and one wild-type, Rosetta × Rosetta splits roughly 25% Tibetan / 50% Rosetta / 25% Pharaoh — you can never have a pure-breeding Rosetta pen, and every hatch is a surprise assortment. Tibetan × Pharaoh makes 100% Rosettas if you want a whole covey of them.
Sexing Rosettas
Not reliably feather-sexable. Vent/foam-gland sexing at maturity, like other dark varieties.
Eggs, size & production
As with Tibetan, size and lay follow the underlying line, not the color gene.
Who this variety is for
Keepers who enjoy variety in every hatch, and anyone who thinks the red-on-dark look is the prettiest Coturnix (a defensible opinion).
Before you buy
Buying 'Rosetta eggs' means hatching a mix — expect Tibetans and Pharaohs in the tray too. That's genetics working, not a bad breeder.
Keep or breed Rosetta?
Show off your birds and compare notes in the free Quail Keeper Community — keepers post their coveys, hatch results, and honest line reviews. Joining also unlocks the Quail Keeper Max app free.
Planning a Rosetta breeding project?
Quail Keeper Max has a built-in color genetics calculator — pick two parents and see what the hatch should throw — plus pedigree tracking, breeding pair records, and hatch-rate stats so you can actually see which pairings work. It's the tool this guide's genetics notes come from.
Try the genetics calculator free →Free plan included · No credit card required
Related varieties
A note from one keeper to another: variety names in Coturnix are not tightly standardized — different breeders' lines under the same name can differ in shade, size, and how crosses behave, and several newer varieties are still being mapped by the breeding community. Treat this guide as a working keeper's reference, buy from breeders who know their lines' genetics, and trust real hatch results over any label.