Green-cheeked Conure Color Guide

[Karearea]

Green-cheeked Conures are a super popular pet parrot with many color mutations. If you're interested in learning about color mutations, I'd suggest starting with this species - its varieties are easy to grasp and can be applied to other kinds of parrot. Here are a few color mutations that you may come across in GCCs:

Wild-type
We're all familiar with the Wild-type, a green bird with a dark gray cap, bright blue flight feathers, a red belly, and a red tail. The beak and feet are dark gray. The Wild-type isn't a color mutation like the others on this list, but is the default appearance when no color mutations are present.



Yellow-sided
Also known as Opaline, Yellow-sided is arguably the most common color mutation in the species. These Green-cheeked Conures have more red and yellow coloration on their frontside compared to Wild-types. Their bill is a slightly lighter gray, and their feet are pink with darker nails. Yellow-sided is sex-linked recessive, meaning that females need one Yellow-sided gene to display these colors while males need two.
Interestingly, young Yellow-sides tend to have more intense red color than adults.



High Red Yellow-sided
Some breeders have selectively bred Yellow-sided Green-cheeks for more red color, resulting in a variety called "High Red". Extra red color is controlled by multiple genes, so some High Reds may have a lot more red while others have very little.



Cinnamon
Cinnamon is another common mutation that changes the bird's melanin to a brownish color. As a result, the upper body is a light brownish-gray, the wings are lighter green, and the tail is bright red. The beak and feet are also pinker than a normal bird, while the eyes are a brownish color. Like Yellow-sided, Cinnamon is sex-linked recessive.
Combining Cinnamon with Yellow-sided results in a "Pineapple", a bird much like a Cinnamon but with more intense red and yellow color on the cheeks and belly.



Turquoise
Turquoise removes most of the Green-cheek's yellow and red pigment, causing the bird to be mostly blue with hints of green on the cheeks and wings. The tail and belly are grayish. Turquoise is autosomal recessive, meaning a bird needs two copies of the gene (one from each parent) for Turquoise to show up.



Dilute
Dilute removes some of the bird's melanin, making these Green-cheeks yellow-green with red color over the belly and tail. Dilute does not affect the beak and feet as heavily as Cinnamon - these areas are gray, not brownish-pink. Like Turquoise, it is autosomal recessive.



Violet
Violet is a dominant mutation that changes the internal structure of the bird's feathers, resulting in more vibrant blue/indigo color across the body. Violet is often combined with Turquoise, which makes the difference more obvious. Birds with two Violet genes have even more intense color than those with one.
In the first picture, a SF violet (one violet gene) and non-violet are compared.



Dominant Red
Probably the rarest variety on this list, Red Dominant causes intense red color to develop across the head, chest, and belly. It is similar to High Red, but isn't the result of selective breeding. The two also have several visual differences: Red Dominants have brighter red ears, more red on the throat/upper breast, and head feathers that may appear "wet" when the bird is young. This latter trait is slowly being bred out, though it doesn't cause the bird any harm. True to its name, Dominant Red is a dominant mutation. It is almost always bred with Yellow-sided.
The second picture shows a Dominant Red + Yellow-sided with "wet" head feathers.

 

[Karearea]

The following are combinations you can get when mixing the four most common Green-cheeked Conure color mutations: Yellow-sided, Cinnamon, Turquoise, and Dilute.

Cinnamon Yellow-sided (AKA Pineapple)
A very popular combination, Pineapples look like Cinnamons with extra yellow and red color on the belly and cheeks. Most importantly, both the beak and feet are fully pink - not partially like in normal Cinnamons. The flight feathers are pale blue.



Cinnamon Turquoise
A combination similar to a regular Cinnamon, looking somewhat washed out with a light cap, ears, and breast. The wings and cheeks are more seagreen-colored, the belly, bill, and feet are pinkish, and the tail is a paler gray.



Turquoise Yellow-sided
A very colorful combination, Turquoise Yellow-sides have a dark cap, white/tan ears, turquoise wings, a gray tail, a dark bill, and pink feet with darker nails. The cheeks and belly show bits of blue-green, green, pale yellow, white, and pink.



Cinnamon Dilute
A bright yellow-green bird with a fully pink bill and feet. While similar to Pineapples and Sun-cheeks, red color on the Cinnamon Dilute's face and chest is very minimal or absent. The flight feathers are silvery in color.



Dilute Yellow-sided
Easily confused with regular Dilutes, Dilute Yellow-sides have a lighter gray bill, pink feet with dark nails, and more red present on the cheeks and breast. They are often misidentified as Pineapples, but lack a fully pink beak and have silvery-blue flight feathers.



Turquoise Dilute (AKA Mint)
A pastel-colored bird with a light gray head, a gray bill, gray feet, pale blue-green wings, and a mix of light yellow and light salmon across the belly and face. The tail is brownish-gray while the flight feathers are silvery-blue. Mints are easily confused with Cinnamints and Opamints, but have the darkest cap, beak, and feet of the bunch.



Turquoise Cinnamon Yellow-sided (AKA Turquoise Pineapple)
Another common cross, Turquoise Pineapples are essentially a more pastel-colored Turquoise Yellow-side - especially across the wings and belly. Like regular Pineapples, their beak and feet are fully pink. Their tail is brownish-gray while their flight feathers are a pale blue.



Turquoise Cinnamon Dilute (AKA Cinnamint)
Similar to a Turquoise Pineapple, but lighter overall with minimal dull pink and yellow across the face and belly. The bill and feet are fully pink. The flight feathers are silvery while the tail is light peach.



Turquoise Dilute Yellow-sided (AKA Opamint)
Similar to Turquoise Pineapple, but with a grayish bill, and dark nails. The flight feathers are silver-blue while the tail feathers are light peach.



Dilute Cinnamon Yellow-sided (AKA Suncheek)
Like a Cinnamon Dilute, but with more intense red across the face and upper breast. The wings are slightly yellow-green (tending towards yellow) while the flight feathers are silvery. Suncheeks are generally highly-valued given their bright colors.



Turquoise Dilute Cinnamon Yellow-sided (AKA Moon-cheek)
Moon-cheeks can only be described as a pastel rainbow. They have paler wings and a pinker bill/feet than Opamints, and have more intense yellow and pink color than Cinnamints. The flight feathers are silvery while the tail feathers are light peach. Like Suncheeks, they are highly valued and can be over $1,000 each.

 

[kadeconure]

Looking up green cheek mutations is how I found your website . It's interesting stuff. My favorites are Dilute and Dilute combinations.

 

[Karearea]

I'm a huge sucker for turquoise yellow-sides and turquoise pineapples! They remind me of springtime.

 

[krisDS8]

Does anyone have additional photos of a cinnamint?
I'm having a tough time discerning between them and a moon cheek. I understand the moon is more brilliant colors but in person you'd be surprised how hard it is when you've never seen them before. And the internet is full of miscategorized photos. So I thought I'd come to the experts!

 

[Karearea]

Does anyone have additional photos of a cinnamint?
I'm having a tough time discerning between them and a moon cheek. I understand the moon is more brilliant colors but in person you'd be surprised how hard it is when you've never seen them before. And the internet is full of miscategorized photos. So I thought I'd come to the experts!

Cinnamints and mooncheeks are pretty difficult to tell apart. Their main differences are in the amount of pink color across the belly, forehead, and cheeks, as well as the amount of suffused yellow color across the body. Cinnamints have less of both.
These pictures might help you see their differences. On the left is a mooncheek, in the middle is an opamint, and on the right is a cinnamint.


Other cinnamint pics


Lastly, here's a mint vs opamint vs cinnamint. While opamints have darker bills, feet, wings, and cheeks than mooncheeks, their bellies look more or less the same.

 

[Finchbreed]

Never knew they had so many colour variations.
Similar to the Gouldian finch in that.

 

[Greencheek Lee]

I'm having a hard time finding a male Turquoise yellow sided. Can you tell me what the parents have to be so I can save money on DNA tests?

 

[Karearea]

I'm having a hard time finding a male Turquoise yellow sided. Can you tell me what the parents have to be so I can save money on DNA tests?

To get a male turquoise yellow-sided, both parents need to have at least one gene for both turquoise and yellow-sided. Choosing a visually cinnamon father will also allow you to rule out female offspring, since all of his daughters will be cinnamons while his sons won't (the mom cannot be cinnamon for this to work). Your ideal pairs would be these:

- Turquoise pineapple male x turquoise yellow-sided female << All males will be turquoise yellow-sides, all females will be turquoise pineapples. Best pair possible for your situation.
- Cinnamon turquoise split yellow-sided male x turquoise yellow-sided female << 50% of males will be turquoise yellow-sides. The other 50% will be turquoises. Females will be either cinnamon turquoises or turquoise pineapples.
- Pineapple split turquoise male x turquoise yellow-sided female << 50% of males will be turquoise yellow-sides. The other 50% will be yellow-sides. Females will be either pineapples or turquoise pineapples.

In any of these scenarios you can replace the turquoise yellow-sided female with a yellow-sided split turquoise. It won't change how you visually identify chicks, but will decrease your odds at getting a turquoise yellow-sided male right away.
It's also fine if dilute is involved in any of these pairs, just as long as both parents don't have it. Otherwise it will mess up your odds.

 

[Greencheek Lee]

Thank you so very much!!!!!!

 

[Karearea]

I've decided to continue with some rarer Green-cheeked Conure mutations, since it seems like there's some interest in them!

Misty
Misty GCCs are relatively difficult to identify, especially if you don't have any non-misty birds to compare with. They have duller blues and greens that makes them look more olive or gray in color. Birds with two Misty genes are much grayer than those with one. It's thought that GCCs with one Misty gene aren't as rare as we think, but since identifying them can be hard, nobody knows exactly how many are out there.

Pictured first is a SF Misty, second is a DF Misty (+ yellow-side), and third is a DF Misty (+ turquoise).



Lutino
Lutino GCCs lack all blue, green, and black color. They are 100% yellow, red, white, and pink! The easiest way to identify a Lutino is to look at the eyes (red instead of black or brown), the beak and feet (fully pink), and the flight feathers (white, not pale blue). They're relatively rare, but are becoming more common in certain parts of the world.
Combining lutino with turquoise results in a light-colored Creamino, pictured second.



Dun Fallow
Fallows are like a "lite" version of Lutino. They still have red eyes and a pink bill/feet, but have more green color across their body. Some fallows are hybrids with maroon-bellied conures, while others are 100% pure.



Dominant Pied
Probably one of my favorite Green-cheeked Conure mutations, pied is a dominant variety that causes yellowish streaking across the wings + sometimes the chest, rump, and tail. Some pieds have very light streaking, while others have almost fully yellow wings! To my knowledge, they are not yet in Canada or the US.

(Pieds can be confused with yellow suffused birds, which get their yellow color from disease/liver problems. True pieds have their yellow color from the day they hatch, it isn't something that comes up later.)



Gray-green
Gray-green, sometimes known as olive, is one of the newest mutation varieties in GCCs. They have dry, dark green color with black flight feathers - no visible blue color at all! They were recently crossed with turquoise for the first time, resulting in a fully gray bird. Most Gray-greens also have the Yellow-sided mutation, which adds some more color to their plumage.

 

[Love My Zons]

I've decided to continue with some rarer Green-cheeked Conure mutations, since it seems like there's some interest in them!

Misty
Misty GCCs are relatively difficult to identify, especially if you don't have any non-misty birds to compare with. They have duller blues and greens that makes them look more olive or gray in color. Birds with two Misty genes are much grayer than those with one. It's thought that GCCs with one Misty gene aren't as rare as we think, but since identifying them can be hard, nobody knows exactly how many are out there.

Pictured first is a SF Misty, second is a DF Misty (+ yellow-side), and third is a DF Misty (+ turquoise).
View attachment 468704 View attachment 468705 View attachment 468706


Lutino
Lutino GCCs lack all blue, green, and black color. They are 100% yellow, red, white, and pink! The easiest way to identify a Lutino is to look at the eyes (red instead of black or brown), the beak and feet (fully pink), and the flight feathers (white, not pale blue). They're relatively rare, but are becoming more common in certain parts of the world.
Combining lutino with turquoise results in a light-colored Creamino, pictured second.
View attachment 468707 View attachment 468708


Dun Fallow
Fallows are like a "lite" version of Lutino. They still have red eyes and a pink bill/feet, but have more green color across their body. Some fallows are hybrids with maroon-bellied conures, while others are 100% pure.
View attachment 468709


Dominant Pied
Probably one of my favorite Green-cheeked Conure mutations, pied is a dominant variety that causes yellowish streaking across the wings + sometimes the chest, rump, and tail. Some pieds have very light streaking, while others have almost fully yellow wings! To my knowledge, they are not yet in Canada or the US.

(Pieds can be confused with yellow suffused birds, which get their yellow color from disease/liver problems. True pieds have their yellow color from the day they hatch, it isn't something that comes up later.)
View attachment 468710 View attachment 468711


Gray-green
Gray-green, sometimes known as olive, is one of the newest mutation varieties in GCCs. They have dry, dark green color with black flight feathers - no visible blue color at all! They were recently crossed with turquoise for the first time, resulting in a fully gray bird. Most Gray-greens also have the Yellow-sided mutation, which adds some more color to their plumage.
View attachment 468712 View attachment 468713

Thank you for your research on this I truly had no idea!

 

[Finchbreed]

I hearby confirm that not only is the Dominant Pied my favourite Budgie - it is now my favourite Conure.