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Budgie Mutations

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atvchick95

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If the picture isn't marked with a K&M Breeding logo then I got them from www.budgieplace.com, Other wise they are my personal pics

I hope this helps some one who is wondering what their Budgies mutation is

There are a lot of budgie mutations, from a single mutation to multiple mutations in one.
Here are a few different mutations
Base Colors - There are 2 base colors Yellow and White
Normal Green (Wild Type)

A yellow-based budgie results in the classic green variety.

Normal Blue (sky blue)


A white-based budgie results in the common blue variety.


Dark Factor

No dark factor in a green (yellow-based) budgie results in the classic light green variety.
One dark factor in a green (yellow-based) budgie results in the dark green variety.

Two dark factors in a green (yellow-based) budgie results in the olive variety.
No dark factor in a blue (white-based) budgie results in the sky blue variety.
One dark factor in a blue (white-based) budgie results in the cobalt variety.





Two dark factors in a blue (white-based) budgie results in the mauve variety.

Grey Factor
Gray factor is a color-adding factor. If a budgie has a grey factor, the color grey is added to the budgie's original body color. The grey factor is very strong and overrides the underlying color.
Grey factor in a normal yellow-based budgie results in the grey-green variety.​
Grey factor in a normal white-based budgie results in the grey variety. This budgie is also dominant pied.

Violet Factor
Violet factor is a color-adding factor. However, it is not as strong as the grey factor. If a budgie has a violet factor, you may or may not know it. True violet only shows up on cobalt budgies (white-based budgies with one dark factor) or, if double factor, on sky blue budgies(white-based budgies with no dark factor). It is very hard to tell if yellow-based budgies carry a violet factor. The violet usually darkens the green of the body feathers similarly to a dark factor. Sometimes, if you look closely, a violet tinge will be visible on the body feathers near the feet and vent of a green budgie with violet factor. Sky blue budgies with one violet factor will have a violet tinge, especially in the body feathers near the feet, and sometimes look darker than a normal sky blue. It is very difficult to detect violet factor in mauve budgies.




Violet factor in a cobalt budgie or double-factor violet in a sky-blue budgie results in the true violet variety. The two budgies on the right are opaline violets.

Dilution
In addition to a dark factor, budgies may also have a degree of dilution. There are four types of dilution: greywing, full-body-color greywing, clearwing, and dilute. Greywing budgies have grey markings on head and wings instead of black, and the body feather color is about 50% diluted (washed out). Full-body-color greywing budgies have the same grey markings of the greywing but the body color is brightened (not lightened or diluted). Clearwing budgies have very light or no markings on head and wings and the body color is brightened (not lightened or diluted). Dilute budgies are washed out all over. The head and wing markings are very light, and the body color is about 80% diluted (washed out). Without any dilution, the budgie looks like the normal budgies seen above.


The greywing variety has grey markings on the wings and a 50% diluted body color.



The full-body-color greywing variety has grey markings on the wings and head and a bright body color.



The clearwing variety has very light wing markings and a bright body color.


The dilute variety has washed out markings and also washed out body color.

Yellowface
Yellowface budgies are in between yellow-based budgies and white-based budgies. There are different degrees of the level of yellow pigment, less than the yellow-based variety. These different levels of yellow pigment are caused by several different genes. Visually, there are two types of yellow face: Type I and Type II. In type I yellowface budgies, the mask feathers are all yellow. The yellow may also show up in the peripheral tail feathers. The yellow is confined to these areas only and the budgie is normally colored in the body feathers. Type II yellowface budgies have yellow in the mask feathers and tail, just like the type I. However, after the first molt at 3 months of age, the yellow diffuses into the body color and creates a new color, depending on the original color. In the case of the sky blue variety, as seen below, the type II yellowface creates a seafoam green color, but in the type I yellowface the body color remains sky blue.

The yellowface type I variety has a bright yellow face but the yellow does not affect the body color or appear in the wing feathers.



The yellowface type II variety has a bright yellow face. The yellow mixes with the body color and diffuses into the wing feathers as well.



Continued below
 

atvchick95

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Wing Patterns

Opaline -Opaline is a striping pattern mutation. It reverses the striping pattern on the head feathers so that there are thicker white areas and thinner black stripes. Another feature which adds to the beauty of this mutation is that the body feather color runs through the stripes on the back of the neck and down through the wing feathers. Opaline budgies' tails are characteristically patterned with light and colored areas running down the tail feather. Opaline is a Sex - Linked gene
Spangle -
Spangle causes the markings on the wings and tail to be reversed. On the wings, instead of the normal black feathers with white edges creating the normal striping pattern, the feathers are mostly clear (yellow or white) with a thin black stripe at the edge. Sometimes the spangle mutation causes a little bit of the body color to show up between the stripes on the back of the head. Unlike the opaline, spangle does not cause the body colors to spread throughout the feathers of the neck and wings. However a budgie can be both spangle and opaline, causing a unique pattern of color dissipating through the wings.
Genetically double-factor spangles are all yellow or all white (depending on base color). You can tell a budgie is double-factor spangle because its irises lighten normally with age. Comparatively, lutinos/albinos have red eyes and dark-eyed clears have dark plum eyes throughout their lives.
Cinnamon -Cinnamon causes the normally black markings of the head and wings to turn brown. The cinnamon mutation does not affect the color of the body feathers , but sometimes can give them a cinnamony tinge. Cinnamon is a Sex- Linked Gene
Pictures and descriptions above are from www.budgieplace.com
Examples of Opaline, Spangle and Cinnamon

This budgie is a Light Green Cinnamon Female​







Pied - there are 4 types of Pied Budgies​

  • Dominant Pied
  • Recessive Pied
  • Clear Flight Pied
  • Dark Eyed Clear
Examples

Dominant Pied -
Dominant pied budgies usually have a distinct pattern. There is always a band of clear body feathers across the lower-mid belly. This band can be very small to very large, encompassing almost the entire belly area. This band can also sometimes be irregular, not forming a complete band across the belly. There is also a band of clear feathers across the bottom of the wings. This band can be restricted to the very lower wing feathers or cover almost the entire wing area. Dominant pieds also always have a patch of clear feathers on the back of the head, usually about the size of a dime.
Genetically double-factor dominant pieds are different from the usual described above. Double-factor dominant pieds have very little markings; most of their feathers are clear. You can see examples of this below.
The irises of a dominant pied budgie turn light with maturity. This is a key factor in telling the difference between a dominant pied and a recessive pied, since recessive pieds' eyes stay a dark plum color throughout their life.





Recessive Pied -

Recessive pied budgies have, in general, mostly clear feathers on all areas except the rump, which remains the original body color. In general there is a patch of normally colored body feathers near the bottom of the belly, with the rest of the body feathers being clear. Where there are marked feathers on the wings, these feathers are half clear near the top. The wings can have anywhere from a lot to very little marked feathers. The feathers on the head are mostly clear except sometimes for patches near the eyes and top of the head.
The recessive pied budgie's eyes are dark plum colored and never lighten with age; they always stay dark. This is how you can be sure a pied is recessive pied, since the dominant pied's eyes lighten normally with maturity. The cere of the male recessive pied also does not change normally. Adult male recessive pieds have purple ceres. Adult female recessive pieds have the normal white/tan/brown ceres.


pic of recessive pied is from www.budgieplace.com


Clear Flight Pied -

A budgie that is clearflight pied will have all clear flight feathers. Sometimes also the major coverts (row of feathers above the flight feathers) and/or the tail feathers will also be clear. Usually a clearflight pied will have some small patches of clear body feathers up around the neck. Clearflight pieds also have a patch of clear feathers on the back of the head.



Dark Eyed Clear -

The dark-eyed clear is actually a combination of recessive pied and clearflight pied. When these two mutations are both present, the budgie is has no markings or color. It is either pure yellow (if it is a yellow-based budgie) or pure white (if it is a white-based budgie). The dark-eyed clear's dark eyes never lighten with age, hence the name.
You can tell a budgie is a dark-eyed clear because its eyes stay a dark plum color throughout its life. Comparatively, lutinos/albinos have red eyes and double-factor spangles have irises that lighten with maturity.
Also, the cere of the male dark-eyed clear does not change normally. Adult male dark-eyed clears have purple ceres. Adult female dark-eyed clears have the normal white/tan/brown ceres.



There are also a variety of combination mutations
Examples








Sorry for 2 posts but It kept telling me I had over my limit of allowed pictures :o:
 

f3ath3rs2

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Yay! So glad you posted this, I love looking up mutations, I'm slowly getting the hang of it! Maybe others could post their pics with mutations so people can get an idea what different mutations look like on multiple birds? Let me know what you think - I can post some of mine :)
 

atvchick95

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Yay! So glad you posted this, I love looking up mutations, I'm slowly getting the hang of it! Maybe others could post their pics with mutations so people can get an idea what different mutations look like on multiple birds? Let me know what you think - I can post some of mine :)

That'll be fine - eventually I'll add more to it (at least on my website - where I snagged this one from :rofl: )
 

Patricia

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Very good information,now to try to figure out what all mine are.That is going to be a chore♥I might need some help here
We have Shamrock and Ice
Daffy,Casper and Jade
Skye
Sunny
Smokey Joe
 

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f3ath3rs2

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That'll be fine - eventually I'll add more to it (at least on my website - where I snagged this one from :rofl: )
Ok now that I posted, and volunteered my pictures, I can't remember my mutations aside from Faeden and Ciel :rolleyes:
Ok, going to post a pic thread with my fids (budgies) - can you meet me there shortly and try to help me out again lol... :hug8:
 

atvchick95

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Very good information,now to try to figure out what all mine are.That is going to be a chore♥
If you have trouble figuring it out Let me know and I'll help you :)



Ok now that I posted, and volunteered my pictures, I can't remember my mutations aside from Faeden and Ciel :rolleyes:
Ok, going to post a pic thread with my fids (budgies) - can you meet me there shortly and try to help me out again lol... :hug8:

Sure will
 

atvchick95

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Very good information,now to try to figure out what all mine are.That is going to be a chore♥I might need some help here
We have Shamrock and Ice
Daffy,Casper and Jade
Skye
Sunny
Smokey Joe

in order of the pics
1st pic on left - Sky Blue Grey wing - female
on the right - Green Recessive pied - Male if over 1 yr old

2nd pic on left - Blue Dominant Pied - if the yellow on the face isn't from a mineral block then it's a Yellow Face Blue Dominant Pied

2nd pic - Center - Mauve Pied (looks Dominant pied)

2nd pic - right - Yellow face type 2 sky blue Dominant Pied

3rd pic - Yellow Face Sky blue Dominant Pied

4th pic Yellow face Sky Blue recessive pied (if over 1 is a male)

5th pic - Looks like a Grey Green to me and maybe a Grey wing I can't see the wing markings very well but if its light grey instead of the normal dark black then he's a grey wing

Sorry it took me a few - my computer is being very slow
 

Patricia

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yes he has grey wings so does his brother but he is more yellow green(that is why I call him Pickle)Thank you so much.I will be asking you again when Emmys oldest gets bigger as he is very dark♥This is Pickle
 

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allison

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I'm wondering now if my guy is a cobalt, not a violet. He is slightly purplish/darker blue, but not the grey purple of the violet.
I can't get a good pic of his true coloring. I'll keep trying, but in the pics he looks like a normal blue.
 

southernbirds

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I just had to comment on the beautiful photos of budgies that are posted here. These little guys are such treasures. Do they come in a pink tone?
 

f3ath3rs2

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I just had to comment on the beautiful photos of budgies that are posted here. These little guys are such treasures. Do they come in a pink tone?
I don't believe there are any pink budgies unless they have an accident with food coloring on a toy :lol: but if there WAS a pink budgie - I'd have AT LEAST one if not a whole flock of them!!!
 

Babybreau

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Nope no such thing as a pink budgie. If there was I'd be all over them! Lol
 
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