Understanding the Mutations and Genetics Of Birds
On this page I will link to other pages I have on here which I explain how the mutations and genetics works with birds, I've written it in a easy to understand way. I've tried not to use any large technical or scientific terms, which I found during my research only confused me more, and made it harder for me to understand how the genetics and mutations worked. When in fact it wasn't all that hard at all.
Genetics - Explained in an easy to understand way
After reading so many pages on genetics and mutations , and not being able to understand a word they wrote, I decided to do it myself, in an easy to understand way :).
This pretty much applies to all the parrots that are able to have mutations, such as Budgies, Lovebirds, Cockatiels, Lovebirds, etc.
This pretty much applies to all the parrots that are able to have mutations, such as Budgies, Lovebirds, Cockatiels, Lovebirds, etc.
Sex Linked
The Sex linked gene is pretty easy to understand, as the name says it is Sex Linked, this means females can only be visual they can not be split to it. Males can be visual or split to it though. This is also an easy way to sex babies, some as soon as they hatch, others as soon as they feather out. For our example we'll use Budgies first. Say Your Male budgie is a Ino (Short for Lutino & Albino) Lutino is sex linked, and lets say your female is Sky blue remember your female is not able to be split to ino what so ever. So they have eggs, the eggs start to hatch you notice some babies have red eyes(when they're born it almost looks like they have no eyes) while others have the normal dark eyes. Those Red eye babies Are automatically Females - they'll be Lutino , And all dark eyed babies will be males they will be Green split to blue and ino, This scenario is also known as "sexing in the nest".
Another Scenario using the above only with a twist This time your male bird is a Lutino Split to Blue, and your female is Sky Blue Again this is known as "sexing in the nest" any red eye babies will be female but this time you will get both Lutino Split to Blue & Albino females. All Males will be Blue or Green Split to blue. All males will be split to Ino
Other sex linked genes that work the same is Cinnamon and Opaline in Green Cheek conures Opaline is known as Yellow Sided, In Cockatiels Opaline is known as Pearl.
So any time only the male has the sex linked mutation all babies born visually that sex linked mutation will be females no need to do any form of DNA sexing, Surgical sexing etc.
If your Female is visually any sex linked mutation and your male is as well rather it is split to it or visual then you will get both Males and females that are visual for the sex linked mutation
Another Scenario using the above only with a twist This time your male bird is a Lutino Split to Blue, and your female is Sky Blue Again this is known as "sexing in the nest" any red eye babies will be female but this time you will get both Lutino Split to Blue & Albino females. All Males will be Blue or Green Split to blue. All males will be split to Ino
Other sex linked genes that work the same is Cinnamon and Opaline in Green Cheek conures Opaline is known as Yellow Sided, In Cockatiels Opaline is known as Pearl.
So any time only the male has the sex linked mutation all babies born visually that sex linked mutation will be females no need to do any form of DNA sexing, Surgical sexing etc.
If your Female is visually any sex linked mutation and your male is as well rather it is split to it or visual then you will get both Males and females that are visual for the sex linked mutation
Recessive
This one is pretty easy as well, Recessive genes means both parents have to have this gene to get any visuals , Either the parent needs to be visual or split, With recessive genes, both females and males can be split to it.
Our example will be a White Face Cockatiel
If your Male is a White face and your female is a pied You would not get any visual white face babies but the babies will all be split to white face.
If your Male is a White Face and your Female is a Pied Split to White face you'll get 50 % Visual White faces and 50% Split to white face and this will be easy to tell because any that are not a visual white face is the one split to White face :) So if only one parent carries the recessive gene this gene is carried through to the babies as a Split gene
In Most parrots you can not tell visually when a bird is split to a mutation, with the exception of Cockatiels usually but not always you can tell if they are split to pied. Pied in Cockatiels is a recessive gene, usually a Cockatiel split to pied will have a fairly big large "clear" patch of feathers on the back of it's head, In non white face mutations this ''clear '' patch is yellow, in white faces it's white sometimes they can also have a light colored nail , ''clear flight'' feathers example If your Cockatiel is the standard grey the flights should be grey if there is a yellow one in there it could be it's split to pied or it's actually pied - some times even a pied Cockatiel has very little pied markings so they're mistaken for split to pied.
Our example will be a White Face Cockatiel
If your Male is a White face and your female is a pied You would not get any visual white face babies but the babies will all be split to white face.
If your Male is a White Face and your Female is a Pied Split to White face you'll get 50 % Visual White faces and 50% Split to white face and this will be easy to tell because any that are not a visual white face is the one split to White face :) So if only one parent carries the recessive gene this gene is carried through to the babies as a Split gene
In Most parrots you can not tell visually when a bird is split to a mutation, with the exception of Cockatiels usually but not always you can tell if they are split to pied. Pied in Cockatiels is a recessive gene, usually a Cockatiel split to pied will have a fairly big large "clear" patch of feathers on the back of it's head, In non white face mutations this ''clear '' patch is yellow, in white faces it's white sometimes they can also have a light colored nail , ''clear flight'' feathers example If your Cockatiel is the standard grey the flights should be grey if there is a yellow one in there it could be it's split to pied or it's actually pied - some times even a pied Cockatiel has very little pied markings so they're mistaken for split to pied.
Dominant
In my honest opinion this is the easiest gene there is :). Dominant means they can not be split to the mutation either they have it or they do not.