|
|
Post by blueelephant on Sept 23, 2021 18:35:37 GMT
I am budgie sitting for a week so we have visitors! There is a budgie hiding under this up do I promise š. I am sure he never used to have all this blue within the feathers on his wings and head? Is anyone able to tell me his genetics?   |
|
|
|
Post by tweetiepiesmom on Sept 23, 2021 20:47:20 GMT
Oh my, what an amazing looking budgie! I'll be interested to read what the folks who know genetics have to say. Is this the latest trend in breeding exhibition budgies - higher crests and longer beards?
|
|
|
|
Post by blueelephant on Sept 23, 2021 21:05:24 GMT
tweetiepiesmom This little chap is an exhibition bird reject š¤£. He looks like he spends all day in the hair salon. He's a gorgeous little boy. Sat and sang his heart out after arriving š„°
|
|
|
|
Post by tweetiepiesmom on Sept 23, 2021 21:38:23 GMT
How sweet! What a lovely guest.
|
|
|
|
Post by Hezz on Sept 24, 2021 0:40:07 GMT
Heās an opaline, blueelephant.  The head feather ābouffant ā look is called the āblowā by exhibition breeders, and the increase in throat spot numbers and size is also part of exhibition breeding, considered a desirable trait. Our normal pet types raise their head feathers when animated; exhibition budgies are taught to do so on demand. They are required to show it off while being judged. Check out Barrieās thread here: budgerigarsforum.proboards.com/thread/2710/head-blow |
|
|
|
Post by yellowfacedviolet on Sept 24, 2021 1:22:09 GMT
Yes, blueelephant, as Hezz says, he's an opaline...a sky blue opaline. One of the hallmark features of opaline is the extension of body color through barring and wing markings. |
|
|
|
Post by blueelephant on Sept 24, 2021 5:27:15 GMT
Thank you both! I will have to look back through older photos as I really can't recall him having the body colour over his wings when he was young. He's about 2 now.
I also didn't know it was called the blow. All my birds bar Toby have bouffant hair but this guy's is particularly special. He does look like a punk though when in a full head moult poor thing!
|
|
Oct 6, 2011 7:41:27 GMT
Marianne Marlow
Administrator 
George, Daisy, Iris, Billy, Peter, Chipper, Dinku, Barney, Ayla and Rocky
Posts: 28,758 
|
Post by Marianne Marlow on Sept 24, 2021 9:38:25 GMT
Gorgeous boy!!!
|
|
|
|
Post by skysmum on Sept 24, 2021 20:13:23 GMT
Gosh he's like Bailey, not colour wise but 'blow' wise, now his feathers have hatched out i cant even see the poor chaps eyes, i'm sure this must affect their vision. He is a beauty blueelephant |
|
|
|
Post by ffiscool on Sept 24, 2021 20:28:10 GMT
Itās a shame in a way, but yes - he is
|
|
|
|
Post by Morgan on Oct 4, 2021 9:43:57 GMT
Iāve never seen an opaline with such dark marking as well as the blue down the back before. That one had me a bit confused! I would have just called him a normal blue, but I guess he does have more blue in places a normal wouldnāt. Beautiful boy either way.
|
|
Oct 6, 2011 7:41:27 GMT
Marianne Marlow
Administrator
George, Daisy, Iris, Billy, Peter, Chipper, Dinku, Barney, Ayla and Rocky
Posts: 28,758
|
Post by Marianne Marlow on Oct 4, 2021 10:08:02 GMT
I agree with you, he doesn't look like a traditional opaline to me either. Iāve never seen an opaline with such dark marking as well as the blue down the back before. That one had me a bit confused! I would have just called him a normal blue, but I guess he does have more blue in places a normal wouldnāt. Beautiful boy either way. |
|
|
|
Post by blueelephant on Oct 4, 2021 13:09:55 GMT
Well... I told my brother the verdict that he was an opaline and he looked into it further on the budgie show forum. They say he is not opaline, but a normal blue that is showing 'opalescence'. Apparently this would be an automatic fail on the show bench š¤£. He really is a show bird reject poor thing...
I got completely lost with the explanation but it was something about opaline characteristics of having the body colour elsewhere on the body without being a true genetic opaline? Genetics baffles me. It sounds a bit like calling apples, pears because they are apple shaped but taste like pears! 'He's showing opaline traits without being an opaline'.
Silver was an opaline and he looked much more traditionally opaline.
They have all gone home now. This guy was my favourite. Always happy to jump on a hand and come out without the silly being scared the other three exhibited!
|
|
|
|
Post by Hezz on Oct 5, 2021 0:08:47 GMT
Well... I told my brother the verdict that he was an opaline and he looked into it further on the budgie show forum. They say he is not opaline, but a normal blue that is showing 'opalescence'. Apparently this would be an automatic fail on the show bench š¤£. He really is a show bird reject poor thing... I got completely lost with the explanation but it was something about opaline characteristics of having the body colour elsewhere on the body without being a true genetic opaline? Genetics baffles me. It sounds a bit like calling apples, pears because they are apple shaped but taste like pears! 'He's showing opaline traits without being an opaline'. Silver was an opaline and he looked much more traditionally opaline. They have all gone home now. This guy was my favourite. Always happy to jump on a hand and come out without the silly being scared the other three exhibited! Ah, yes, I can see what they are on about ā¦ there does seem to be some colour missing from some of his wing feathers, but does still appear to have the larger-than-normal white markings on the flights.  Poor boy, being called a āshow rejectā.  |
|
|
|
Post by Morgan on Oct 5, 2021 3:55:41 GMT
Well, we know that a certain mutation on the male sex chromosome makes a bird opaline. (Females have one copy and males have two of these so females only need one copy to look opaline but males need two copies, one on each sex chromosome to appear opaline). Geneticists have probably given this specific mutation at this particular locus on the chromosome an official name and code but I only know aviculture terms for genetics currently. So whatever this boy has is probably not that specific genetic mutation that we would call opaline. But whatever mutation he has makes some of the body color show up in the flights and on the back where it normally doesnāt belong, just as opaline does, but it does not also remove melanin from the back area like opaline does. I didnāt even notice the larger white patches in the wings though that opalines do normally have, so I wonder if this mutation is at the same locus on the chromosome as regular opaline, because of the similarities. Or maybe somehow opaline can be incompletely expressed like a co-dominant mutationā¦ Or maybe he is an opaline with another mutation that increases melanin expression, negating that clear area that opaline would normally create. Yep, nature is weird and genetics are fascinating and confusing! We can only look at what we see and make assumptions based on patterns, or actually look at the chromosomes to see what has changed from ānormalā, but random mutations happen all the time. Perhaps the way a gene mutation functions could also changeā¦ I bet it would be even more confusing if we knew even more about Budgie genetics - like what genes control specifically for feather size, body size or shape, beak length or color, eye color with certain mutations, etc. Chicken genetics are wild, even more complicated than Budgie genetics, maybe just because we know more about them. But then thereās even more we donāt know! Chicken eye color is apparently a complete mystery - how itās inherited is still being studied. |
|
