The present study aimed to determine variations in the body surface temperature (TS) of quails by infrared thermography. The study was conducted at the Laboratory of Biometeorology and Animal Welfare, campus Mossoró/RN, Brazil. Ten adult quails were used, males and females, in a controlled environment. The air temperature (TA) was divided into three classes (CT): CT 1 (TA < 18 °C); CT 2 (18  TA < 22 °C) CT 3 (TA  22 °C). The cloacal temperature (TC) was measured. The TS was measured in three regions (legs, face and feathered region). The analysis of variance for TS revealed a significant effect of the body region, CT and interaction between body region and CT. The region of the face presented TS (33.68 °C) higher than the area covered by feathers (24.73 °C) and the region of the legs (24.68 °C). The region of legs was the one that suffered the greatest variation in TS. Thus, it is concluded that Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) have a difference in the body surface temperature according to the body region.