Molting again?!?!

[EnglishBudgMom]

Hello fellow Budgie owners! I have yet another molting question. Bubbles appeared to be done with her juvenile molt (first molt). She lost all her head bars and her half moon "dot/blob" feathers became circles. She was much less crabby and sort of back to her pre-molt/baby demeanor for a week or two, but I think she's started molting again! Yesterday and today, feathers EVERYWHERE again. Big feathers this time too, seems like more body feathers, less head. Would it be a juvenile molt rolling over into a "regular" molt as her juvenile molt just so happened to be timed around spring? Plus, spring/hormones/bird puberty....

I know keeping a single Budgie (she's an English) is not universally accepted, but she's back to being quiet and not wanting out as much as normal. When not molting, she'll hop to the door and start stomping her feet on the perch, impatiently waiting for my hand. She's flying now too, so she is learning she can also just fly out! In other words, she's not being reserved because she's a singleton bird (I am not against getting another bird, but we're waiting)

Also... I was wondering what her mutation is... I'll post pictures of her back side later.

Thanks again for all your helpful information and advice!! :sunflower:

 

[EnglishBudgMom]

 

[Fuzzy]

I don't know what mutation she is, but she is one beautiful bird!!!

 

[EnglishBudgMom]

Thank you!

 

[Ripshod]

She's definitely clearflight, to know if she's pied we need a pic of the back of the head.
Moulting happens the same way with my budgies, smaller downy feathers first then larger feathers including tail and flights. I think the small ones first so the budgie can keep warm while moulting the larger feathers, I may be wrong on this.
And yes, she is a STUNNER!

 

[EnglishBudgMom]

She's definitely clearflight, to know if she's pied we need a pic of the back of the head.
Moulting happens the same way with my budgies, smaller downy feathers first then larger feathers including tail and flights. I think the small ones first so the budgie can keep warm while moulting the larger feathers, I may be wrong on this.
And yes, she is a STUNNER!

Thank you! Are you looking for the white patch on the back of the head? She has one. I've always thought it was cute. I also noticed she's not really getting much of a defined iris ring either. You can see it if you shine a light directly at her face (and piss her off), but it isn't easily seen at all. Her "head poof" crown is also always partially covering her eyes, so she always looks grumpy and doesn't have that wide eyed look most budgies do. I think that's more of an English trait.

Nice to know your budgies molt the same way. It just seems to be lasting forever! Poor little grumpy chicken...

 

[Ripshod]

It just seems to be lasting forever! Poor little grumpy chicken...

It seems like they take a break from moulting. Tiels do this too.
Pied Clearflight then. She is lovely, a credit to her mom.

 

[PoukieBear]

She's lovely ! Budgies can moult for several months, with some heavy periods and some lighter periods. So don't worry!

And a little genetics lesson on her mutation. I know there are a lot of people here who get confused about mutations and are trying to learn more, so I want you to start out on the right foot with the right information

Some people were calling her a "Clearflight" and wondering if she had a pied marking. To clear this up, ALL Clearflights are pied. The official name of the mutation is "Clearflight Pied". They will all have a pied marking on the back of their head. This mutation is dominant, and can come in a single factor (sf) or a double factor (df) form. There is no visual difference between the two, so only breeding will tell you if you have a SF or DF Clearflight Pied.

The fun part of this mutation is that if your Clearflight Pied is also split for recessive pied, then if you pair it up with a recessive pied, you will end up with some Dark Eye Clear chicks.

 

[EnglishBudgMom]

She's lovely ! Budgies can moult for several months, with some heavy periods and some lighter periods. So don't worry!

And a little genetics lesson on her mutation. I know there are a lot of people here who get confused about mutations and are trying to learn more, so I want you to start out on the right foot with the right information

Some people were calling her a "Clearflight" and wondering if she had a pied marking. To clear this up, ALL Clearflights are pied. The official name of the mutation is "Clearflight Pied". They will all have a pied marking on the back of their head. This mutation is dominant, and can come in a single factor (sf) or a double factor (df) form. There is no visual difference between the two, so only breeding will tell you if you have a SF or DF Clearflight Pied.

The fun part of this mutation is that if your Clearflight Pied is also split for recessive pied, then if you pair it up with a recessive pied, you will end up with some Dark Eye Clear chicks.

Super cool to know! Most of this is birdie mumbo jumbo to me, but nice to know "what" her colors mean/are. After going to that English Budgie show I noticed her "clearflight" pattern more. I kept trying to figure out why she had that white edge to her wings and tail, as most birds I saw didn't, and what it was called. I also never knew what that white blob on the back of her head meant, aside from just being cute.