tr?id=290812311264174&ev=PageView&noscript=1 Budgies Mutation - I
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Understanding Budgie Mutations

There are 2 basic varieties
1) Green series also called Yellow Based -Dominant
2) Blue series also called White Based  - Recessive
Generally  the base color is visible in the mask feathers, and between the black stripes on the head and wings. With the exception of the Yellow Face Budgie.

Normal Green - AKA Light Green or Wild Type
budgies mutation
This is the original mutation of budgies - this is what is seen in the wild. The Green budgie is Yellow Based, with blue feather structure in the body feathers which results in the normal green budgie (remember in grade school when you learned x color mixed with x color made x color - Yellow and Blue Make green ;) ) The stripes on the head and markings on the wings are Black with a yellow outline.

Dark Green
budgies mutation
The Dark Green variety is made when there is 1 Dark Factor. The dark factor basically darkens the blue in the budgies body feathers making it a darker green than the normal variety.

Olive Green

The Olive Green Variety occurs when there are 2 dark factors present.
It makes the budgies body color a very dark olive green color 

Normal Blue AKA Sky Blue
budgies mutation
Sky blue is the normal blue for a budgie - it has no dark factors and the blue is a very light aqua or turquoise blue color - which a lot of people will call it by either of those names, however those are not the correct terms. The correct term is Normal Blue .it is often called sky blue because the budgies body color is very bright blue like the sky.

Cobalt
budgies mutation
The Cobalt variety occurs when there is 1 dark factor. it makes the Normal sky blue color slightly  darker.

Mauve
budgies mutation
Mauve occurs when there are 2 dark factors, making the body color of the budgie darker than a cobalt , sometimes it is confused for a Grey Budgie, Mauve Budgies have blue cheek patches, where Grey Budgies have Grey- Silver Cheek Patches.

Grey Factor ~ Dominant
budgies mutation
Grey Factor is actually a color adding factor. In a yellow based(green) budgie it turns the budgie Grey Green
in a blue Based Budgie the Budgie is Grey 
Grey Budgies have Grey- silver Cheek Patches.
The Grey Factor comes in 2 forms - Single Factor and Double Factor - You won't know if your budgie is SF or DF unless you test bred it though. If you breed a Grey Budgie to a Non Grey budgie and only get a few Grey Budgies your Budgie is SF(single factor) Grey, If you breed a Grey budgie to a non grey budgie and get all grey budgies your budgie is a DF(double Factor) Grey.

Violet Factor ~ Semi - Dominant

Like the Grey factor it is a color adding factor, The violet factor is not as strong as the grey factor and its usually pretty hard to know if your bird has the violet factor. True Violets only show up on Cobalt Budgies (Blue based), it is very hard to tell if a Green budgie carries the violet Factor.

Dilute

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. 
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).
Normal - dominant
Greywing - recessive, co-dominant with clearwing
Clearwing - recessive, co-dominant with greywing
Dilute - recessive

Greywing
budgies mutation
Grey wing is recessive meaning both parents have to carry the gene, Grey wing Makes the wing pattern and baring Grey instead of the normal Black. It also dilutes(or washes out) the body color about 50%

Clearwing

Clearwings have very light or no markings on their heads and wings, their body color is brightened instead of lightened or diluted.

Full Body Grey wing AKA FBG and Full Body Color Greywing (FBCG)

Full-body-color greywing budgies have the same grey markings of the greywing but the body color is brightened (not lightened or diluted)

Yellow Face - Type 1
budgies mutation
Yellow face 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. The shade of yellow in a Yellow face is a Lemon Yellow Color.

Yellow Face Type 2
budgies mutation
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 to the left,  the type II yellowface creates a seafoam green color, but in the type I yellowface the body color remains sky blue.

Golden Face
budgies mutation
The Mask of a golden face is more of a buttercup yellow color.  The yellow bleeds through to the body color on a SF Golden Face just like it does on a Type 2 yellow face

DF Yellow Face Type 1
budgies mutation
When a Budgie is a Double Factor (DF) Yellow Face type 1 - They visually Appear as a normal White Masked budgie. But when they're bred to a normal  non yellow face they produce 100% Single Factor Yellow Faces. So you wouldn't actually know if your budgie was a normal "white face" budgie or a DF Yellow Face Type 1 unless it was bred to a non yellow face budgie.

Lutino/ Albino/Creamino -  Sex linked on the X- Chromosome
budgies mutation
Lutino is in the Green series
Albino is in the Blue Series
Creamino is a Yellow Faced Albino - Blue Series
They're known also as Ino's.
A Lutino is pure yellow with red eyes While an Albino is pure White with red eyes. A Creamino is a  Yellow Face type 2 Albino, it is white with a yellow over cast that varies in depth of color, it also has red eyes.
All 3 are Sex Linked on the X Chromosome. Which means Females can't be split to a Ino mutation. They're either ino or they are not. When You breed a Visual Female ino to a non ino male who is not split to ino, You will not get any ino babies, but the males will be split.. If you breed a visual ino male to a non ino female, All visual ino babies will be female, Males will be split for ino.
A Male budgie is not split to "Ablino" or "Lutino" it is just split to ino, Because depending on the base color of the male and the female you pair the bird is how it is determined if you'll get Albino or Lutino babies. Example: if you have a Blue Male split ino and you put him to a Green female NOT split to blue all ino babies will be Lutino Female. and it would be the same if you took a Green Male not split to blue and put to a blue female. If you take 2 greens both split to blue and your male is split to ino you'll get both Albino and Lutino Females

Spangle ~ Dominant
budgies mutation
When Budgies are spangle their wings are mainly white outlined in black - instead of the normal Black wings outlined in white.  This mutation comes in a Double Factor form - If the budgie is a Double factor Spangle it has no markings and its either pure white(blue based) or Pure yellow( Green Based) The way to know you have a double factor Spangle and not a Dark eye clear - DF Spangles do get iris rings and the males do get blue ceres. They also have dark eyes So that's how you tell a DF Spangle from a Lutino/ Albino (they have red eyes).

Double Factor Spangle(DF Spangle) ~ Dominant
budgies mutation
When a budgie is a DF Spangle, they have no markings, they're either Pure Yellow for Green Series or Pure White for Blue Series, They have dark eyes and do get iris rings at maturity, Also the males cere does turn blue. 

Cinnamon ~  Sex linked on the X- Chromosome
budgies mutation
When Budgies are cinnamon the colors of their head bars, wings and flight feathers are brown instead of black.  Cinnamon is another sex linked mutation, Which means most of the time if the bird is a visual cinnamon it's female. but this is not always the case, If both parents carry the cinnamon gene you can get visual male cinnamon budgies.

Opaline -Sex linked on the X- Chromosome
budgies mutation
When budgies are Opaline their body color "bleeds" into their wings so if you have a sky blue budgie a normal budgie would have Black and white wings with no other color but if your budgie is Opaline then the sky blue color will be in between the black and white markings on the wing.  As with any other Sex linked mutation Opaline is normally found in females. But as you can see from the picture to the Left They do come in Males as well. To get Male Opaline's Both parents must carry the Opaline Gene. The Female would be a visual Opaline the male could be visual or Split for Opaline. Also as with all other sex linked mutations females can not be split to it, so either they are Opaline or they are not Opaline.

Dominant Pied ~ Dominant
budgies mutation
There will usually be a clear patch of feathers on the back of the budgies head - Some times called a "thumb print"  there is also usually a clear patch of feathers across the the stomach , and there is also a clear area across the bottom of the wings, and the flight feathers are also clear.  This mutation also comes in the Double Factor form. When a budgie is a Double Factor Dominant pied usually there are no markings and the birds is Mainly clear (White for blue series / Yellow for Green series) Double Factor pieds do get iris rings.

Recessive Pied ~ Recessive
budgies mutation
Recessive pied - Usually recessive pieds have mainly all clear feathers except on the rump & sometimes there is color on the very lower part of the belly,  their wing markings are random and are usually clear on the top half. They do not get iris rings

Clear Flight Pied ~ Dominant
budgies mutation
Usually the body color is all one color no breakage and no clear areas, sometimes there are clear patches around the neck of the clear flight pied. The flight feathers are clear, sometimes major coverts (row of feathers above the flight feathers) and/or the tail feathers will also be clear, they usually also have the clear patch on the back of their head like a Dominant pied. A lot of times the Clear Flight pied & the Dominant pied are confused. They do get Iris rings.

Dark Eye Clear (DEC)

Sometimes called DEC - A Dark eyed clear is often confused for a Lutino or Albino because the budgie is all one color with no markings at all In the Green Based it would be pure yellow, in the blue based it would be pure white. They have Dark eyes (Lutino/Albinos have red) they do not get iris rings The males cere stays pink and never turns blue.

Lacewing - Sex linked on the X- Chromosome


Lacewing is considered a rare mutation, Only because it's not an easy mutation to create. Lacewing is a composite of taking an Albino Or Lutino and putting it to a cinnamon .Which sounds easy enough  In a Lutino a Lace wing would be Pure yellow with red eyes and Brown markings just like a cinnamon. In an Albino a Lacewing would be pure white with red eyes and brown markings just like a cinnamon. In order to get a lacewing you have to hope a cross-over happens during breeding there is only a 3% chance of the cross- over taking place and Lacewings being produced.

Clear Body ~  Sex linked on the X- Chromosome
budgies mutation
The Clear body is considered a Rare Mutation. The clear body is also known as the Texas Clear Body
The body color is either diffused or absent. The wing markings are dark on top and fade to a light grey towards the tips of the feathers, leaving either white or yellow depending on the base color of the budgie.
They can however have some body color but it would be diluted about 50% and would be stronger around the vent & rump feathers.