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The Blue Cockatiels

The American Budgie seen to the right and the Cockatiels below it share something in common. Both are showing yellow in the face although it is absent from the rest of the body. These types of birds are classified as Par Blue.

In Budgies there have long been blue specimens like this, but until recent years they had not occurred in Cockatiels.

The blue series (Whiteface in Cockatiels) has five known genes and all work co-dominantly(co-operatively together). Any two of them can be present in any one bird at one time. These genes are list here in order in which they allow production of yellow psittacin pigment from strongest expression to weakest:

B - the wild-type dominant (grey)

b^gf - the mutant goldenface

b^yf2 - the mutant 2 pastelface

b^yf1 - the mutant 1 creamface

b - the mutant blue allele(whiteface)

These are all psittacin-reducing mutations, but they are not related in any way to the sex-linked Yellowcheek or the Dominant Yellowface.

The cockatiels shown here are the first example of the type 1 blue I have seen. They arose in a line of Whiteface bred in South Africa by Mr. Lester de Kock.

Color Mutations

The normal color of a wild cockatiel is dark grey, bordering on black. Males are generally darker than females and develop a yellow mask, crest and a bright orange cheek spot. The dark pigments are referred to as melanin and the yellow and orange as psittacin. Hens still have the orange cheek spot and yellow in the face, but it's generally obscured by the grey. There is great variety in coloration from bird to bird and region to region. There are lines of cockatiels with lots of lipochrome wash, while others are nearly devoid of yellow. I will not breed these washed out specimens no matter what other good points they may have. It is of interest that the hen in the Gould lithograph has quite a bit of yellow in the head. While he undoubtedly painted a lot of his lithos from notes and memory, he had live cockatiels in Britain to work from. It is reported that color mutations are seen from time to time in wild Australian flocks, but natural selection does not seem to favor their survival. An oddly colored bird will stand out to a predator and that's not good for survival.

In captivity, these mutations (variations from the normal color) have occurred and have been established.

See the Genetics Page for information on the mechanics of color inheritance.

What follow are descriptions of the various colors cockatiels can be.

Edged Dilute -Spangled(Simple Recessive)

This is a mutation of which little is known. In most parrot species the center of the feather is much lighter in color than the edge. It may be the cockatiel version of the Spangled Budgie. I believe dark "Emeralds" are actually Edged and not Emerald(Dilute) at all. The baby shown to the right with the Albino is a good example of this theory.

Dilute -Emerald and Pastel(Simple Recessive)

Pastel and Emerald are both Dilute mutations that reduce the amount of melanin in the feather. They do not affect yellow. Pastel, found only in Australia, produces a 50% reduction in Grey. Emerald, bred in Texas, produces an 80% reduction. Yellow psittacin color change is not at all involved with this mutation.

Lutino -Sex Linked Ino(Sex Linked)

Some white cockatiels were hatched one day in the aviary of Cliff Barringer, right here in Miami. He contacted Mrs. E.L. Moon the curator of birds at Parrot Jungle in Miami who bought the birds and their relatives. Using these birds, she established the mutation and today they are the most sought after color variety in the pet market. I had the privilege of meeting Mrs. Moon as a child. Being a kind woman, she answered all my many questions and hooked me on keeping birds. They were quite expensive for a kid's budget and so I got parakeets as my first birds. In 1980 I was given an older lutino by my brother in law, who was tired of keeping it. It was out of a pair of the original Moon Beams, as they were called, and I treasured that bird until it died of old age in 1994.

Opaline or Pearl (Sex Linked)

Pearled cockatiels have mostly yellow heads and tails. Over the body there is an attractive yellow scalloping on each feather, resulting in a very pretty bird. As the cockbirds go through their first molt, they lose most of their pearling and end up a marbled grey color, much like the normal. They retain a marbling on the back and sometimes in old age, their pearls become more visible again. Some lines have been selectively bred from cocks that retain some of their pearling for life. Those birds without a good yellow wash are best not bred.

Cinnamon (Sex Linked)

These attractive birds are a soft fawn color throughout. Males develop the yellow mask at puberty and darken up a little. The most attractive cinnamons have a heavy psittacin wash which accents the brown tone and brightens it up. Cinnamons are probably my favorites.

Dominant Yellow Cheek (Dominant)

These birds are nearly identical in appearance to the sex-linked variety, but in this case it is inherited the same way as Dominant Silver. A bird with two DYC genes will have twice the orange/yellow reduction of a bird with only one.

Yellow Cheeked (Sex Linked)

In this mutation the bright orange cheek spot is yellow instead. Not related to pastelface or Dominant Yellow Cheek.

Pied (Simple Recessive with modifiers)

Pieds were probably the first color mutation in cockatiels. The effect can result in very pretty birds that have areas of light feathers over parts of the body normally dark. Specimens with smaller areas of yellow are referred to as light pieds and those with a lot more heavy pieds. Occasionally there will be a clear pied, without any dark feathers at all. These are hard to tell from lutinos, except they have dark eyes. Ideally a pied should have 70% clear and 30% dark feathers and show a clear face. They are all pieds though and from generation to generation there will be a wide variance in the effect. Once again, the most attractive specimens are a bright yellow.

White Face -Blue (Simple recessive)

Also European in origin, the whitefaced cockatiel is incapable of producing any psittacin pigment whatsoever. They are very dark and show an attractive white mask and crest as adults (the hen less so than the cock). When combined in the proper way with lutino, you can produce a totally white bird with red eyes and feet. See the article above for more.

Recessive Silver -Ashen Fallow (Simple Recessive)

These birds have red eyes and dilute feathering which can range from a silvery color to almost brownish. Not too many of them are around, although they look interesting. This is the one mutation I think looks most attractive if the bird in question has a whitish undertone instead of yellow.

Dominant Silver - Ashen Dilute (Dominant)

These birds were developed in England during the middle 80's. Their appearance is a metallic silver color with dark beaks and feet and a blackish skullcap behind the crest. There are two color phases; one is darker (single factor) the other is lighter (double factor). In simple terms, the single factors have one gene for the trait while double have two. Whatever the case, if the trait is present in the bird it will be exhibited visually. There is no such thing as a bird split to a dominant mutation. If you are ever offered a bird "split to dominant silver", you are dealing either with an uninformed person or a dishonest one.

Fallow -Non Sex Linked Ino (Simple Recessive)

Fallows are gorgeous birds. They're a soft tan color and most often have a rich yellow undertone. Their eyes are red to plum and their crests and cheek spots are colored vibrantly. Unfortunately many Fallow lines are closely related, have poor fertility and just aren't the healthiest overall. They're not common but there are breeders out there working on their lines to produce stronger progeny. These are the same as Bronze Fallow in other Parrot species.

PHOTO By M MASON, Texas