YellowfaceAfter reading the info in the previous posts about Yellow based (Green series) and White based (Blue series) budgies, one can think that it is not possible to have both Yellow and White coloration on the same budgie. This is where Yellowface mutation comes in. It is in-between Yellow based (Green series) and White based (Blue series) budgies. Yellowface is a mutation that allows Yellow pigment to appear in some parts of the body, but not others. A Yellowface budgie can have a Blue body (lacking Yellow pigment) and a Yellow head.
The Yellowface can also be present on a Yellow based (Green series) budgie, but Yellow will be masking the Yellowface. This includes Albino (Creamino), Dark Eyed Clear, Grey and Violets in all depths of shades.
Although, Yellowface budgies can have different shades, but there are 3 basic types, as there are different degrees of the level of Yellow pigment.
1) Yellowface Mutant 1 (which is sometimes called “Yellowface Type 1”, but it is a wrong term). This is the most common type of Yellowface budgies out there.
2) Yellowface Mutant 2 (which is sometimes called “Yellowface Type 2”, but it is a wrong term)
3) GoldenfaceThe Goldenface is like Yellowface Mutant 2, except it is a separate mutation genetically. There is also a difference in the color of the Yellow. Goldenface have deeper Yellow color.
There are other mutations in Yellowface budgies, like Rainbow. It’s better to discuss it separately, as it is the combination of Yellowface or Goldenface, Blue series Clearwing, Opaline.
Peter Bergman mentions in “Gene Function in Yellowface Budgerigars” that Yellowface budgerigars have probably had more written about them than any other variety. Opinions differ about what Yellowface really are and debates about Yellowface genetics have at times become quite heated. The genetics of the several Yellowface mutations and their relation to the Blue mutation are not yet fully and definitively understood.
In his article “Australian Yellowface (Goldenface), An Australian Perspective”, Ken Yorke describes the three Yellofaces as below.
1) Australian Yellowface (also called Goldenface, a name created overseas). (abbreviate it to AYF).
2) English Yellowface Mutant 1 (abbreviated to EYF1). In very early literature this used to be called Yellowface Type 1.
3) English Yellowface Mutant 2 (abbreviated to EYF2). In very early literature this used to be called Yellowface Type 2.
As there is a lot of discussion and difference of opinions about the three basic Yellowface mutations, I will quote their color standards from World Budgerigar Organization.
1) Yellowface Mutant 1| General body color: | As the corresponding White face variety. |
| Mask: | Lemon Yellow which should extend over the frontal and crown with no more than minimal intrusion into the undulations at the back of the head. The frontal and crown should be clear and free from all markings. |
| Markings: | On cheeks, back of head, neck and wings may have a light flush of lemon Yellow visible in the otherwise White areas at the edge of the markings. |
| Tail feathers: | Lemon Yellow overlay on the White areas of the secondary tail feathers is permissible. |
3) Goldenface| General body color: | As the corresponding White face variety. |
| Mask: | Buttercup Yellow which should extend over the frontal and crown (a deeper yellow in the case of the Goldenface version) which will continue through the otherwise White areas of the undulations at the back of the head. The frontal and crown must be clear and free from all markings. |
| Markings: | On cheeks, back of head, neck and wings may have a light flush of Yellow visible in the otherwise White areas at the edge of the markings. |
| Tail feathers: | A deep Yellow overlay on the otherwise White areas of the secondary tail feathers. |
Some describe Yellowface Mutant 1 in this way, that it has a Yellow mask and sometimes the Yellow can go into the White areas like the wing and tail feathers but the Blue in the body remains visible, as it does not mix with the body color. Also the Yellow is pale lemon Yellow.
For them, the Yellowface Mutant 2 is almost the same as a young Yellowface Mutant 1, but after the first molt it turns out to be more on the greenish side as the spread of Yellow is in whole body. The spread of the Yellow into the body color becomes more progressive with each successive molting.
Ripbudgies from Australia has bred Goldenfaces for 20+ years, including some other rare varieties like Brownwing. She believes that in all Yellowfaces, Yellow bleed into the body. But it is the degree to which they do so, and whether or not people can see it. She describes the three Yellowfaces as below. I tend to agree with her, possibly due to the fact that I had the chance to discuss it with her.
1) Yellowface Mutant 1 is the commonly seen Mutant. It has a lemon or cream face and there is a very little Yellow suffusion in the body. However, some people do not have good eyesight and they do not see the Yellow suffusion. This mutant is available both in Single Factor and Double Factor form. The Double Factor form is visually a Whiteface.
2) Yellowface Mutant 2 is a pale Yellowface. It is slightly darker than the first one. Also it will show a high degree of Yellow suffusion into the body. These appear either sea-green (Sky Blue) or aqua (Cobalt). This Mutant is also available in Single Factor and Double Factor form. And in the Double Factor form, the Yellow is reduced more towards the face but there is still some Yellow suffusion.
3) Goldenfaces have bright Yellow faces. In Single Factor form the Yellow will suffuse into the body in a far greater depth than the other two Mutants. Sky Blues look sea greenish, Cobalts look turqoise, Mauves look like Olives and Greys look like Grey Greens. In Double Factor form the Yellow is reduced and is best seen in Cobalts and Violets.
The Yellowface Mutant 2 mutation is dominant in nature and comes both in a Single Factor and Double Factor forms. The different levels of Yellow pigment is the result of several different genes. Therefore Yellowface genetics are very complicated.
However, Yellowface or Goldenface is dominant to the Whiteface Blue. It means that when pairing a Yellowface to a Whiteface, we will get some Yellowface chicks depending upon what Factor the Yellowface is carrying.
For example, if we pair a Single Factor Mutant 1 Yellowface to a Whiteface, then we will theoretically produce 50% Yellowface and 50% Whiteface.
The pairing result of two Single Factor Mutant 1 Yellowface, will be 50% Single Factor Yellowface, 25% Double Factor Yellowface and 25% Whiteface. So here we have 50% Whiteface (25% Double Factor Yellowface and 25% Whiteface), of which half are in fact Yellowface. And only by test-mating, we can tell which of the two we have.
The interesting thing to remember here is that a Double Factor Mutant 1 is in fact a Whiteface in appearance. Yellowface Mutant 1 Double Factor budgies do not have Yellow faces, and their faces are White. This is why they are often known as Whiteface. So the question here is that how to know if a budgie is a Double Factor Yellowface as it will have White face (just like blue Sky Blues or Cobalts have). The answer is that we can tell that only by knowledge about their background, or by breeding results. However, the Yellowface Mutant 2 and Goldenface do not turn into Whiteface in Double Factor form.
Pairing such (as above) Whiteface (Double Factor Yellowface Mutant 1) to another Whiteface, which has no Yellowface in the background will result in 100% Single Factor Yellowface.
Double Factor Yellowface Mutant 2 can be quite similar to a Single Factor Yellowface Mutant 1. But the colors can be little brighter.
Finally,
The established thought is, that this is a mutation which has a Single Factor (BYF1B), which visually produces a Yellowface budgie, and Double Factor form (BYF1BYF1) which visually produces a Whiteface Blue budgie, which is separate from the normal “original” Whiteface Blue variety (BB).
A new viewpoint takes this a step further that the Yellowface is a representation of a combination of two types of Blue gene. With this viewpoint the two types of Blue (B1B1 and B2B2) when paired with itself is a Whiteface Blue, but when combined (B1B2) produces the visually recognized Yellowface variety.
Only time will tell that which one is correct.
Yellowface Mutant 1 Sky Blue
