Questions and Answers Forum

QUESTION: During the past several months I have had occasion to visit several pet stores located in western Pennsylvania and New Jersey. During these visits I have encountered a few cockatiels with rose colored spots of feathers. In some cases the birds had identical spots on each wing. In other cases the rose colored feathers were located on the backs or breasts. I am new to the cockatiel world but have never seen pictures or read articles that included references to rose coloration in cockatiels. Can you enlighten me? D.B. NY

ANSWER: As you visit these pet shops eventually you should also see cockatiels with blue spots on them also. Some breeders (primarily commercial) use pink dye to designate female birds and blue dye to designate male birds. These breeders produce so many unbanded birds for the pet trade they have found it easier to use dye to identify sex, due to the constant movement of the birds, rather than some other form of identification.

QUESTION: All of the books I have read describe the Lutino as having red eyes, but almost all I have seen have dark eyes, is this something new? I have been told to avoid Lutinos with bald spots for breeding, why? T.M. OK

ANSWER: Lutinos are born with red eyes which is caused by a lack of pigmentation in the eye that allows the blood vessels to give the eye their red coloring. As most Lutinos mature they have a tendency to have an increase in the level of pigment in the eyes causing them to naturally darken. If you were to shine a light in the eyes after this darkening takes place, you would find the eyes are now a just a dark shade of red, but red none the less. Some Lutinos do keep their bright red eyes for life when the genes of both parents line up properly to give them this trait or when they are crossed with Pieds.

When Lutinos first appeared bald spots used to be as large as a persons thumb, through selective breeding the size of this bald spot has been reduced. When Lutinos first appeared, as is today, it is desirable to obtain birds with no bald spot or the smallest spot available in an attempt to eliminate this genetic trait. When breeding Lutinos as in all other mutations, to enhance or eliminate a specific trait, all is dependent on the pairing of the genes in a particular mating. You will find a pair of Lutinos with no baldness can produce chicks that all have bald spots but when breed to a different mate, even one with a small (size of a fingernail) bald spot, can produce chicks with no baldness at all. There is no true method for elimination or enhancement of traits such as a bald spot, red eyes, size, length or coloring, it is accomplished through selective breeding until the desired results are realized.

QUESTION: I remember seeing in a magazine article a recipe for producing heavy Pieds, it involved breeding Pieds into Lutinos to clear up dirty Pieds. Could you print this recipe as I would like to clear up my Pieds? J.J. MN

ANSWER: As in the above answer there is no true method(recipe) for the production of heavy Pieds. I have seen two dirty faced Pieds produce heavier Pieds chicks than a pair of saddle back(heavy) Pieds. This particular theory of a recipe can be placed with the other old wives tales such as: dangling a needle over a chick, if it moves back and forth its a male, in circles its a hen; breeding two silvers together produce blind chicks; breeding pairs of Lutinos, Whiteface or Silvers together produce weak chicks, you can sex young birds by feeling the pelvic bones. These have all been proven false, especially since the size and quality of the cockatiel has improved so much since the appearance of these mutations.

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