The Cockatiel

(Nymphicus hollandicus)

The Primary Colour Varieties

Fallow	Recessive
Melanin black is changed to melanin brown and diluted in both feathers and body tissue. Grey areas of plumage changed to a buff or tan colour; eyes are red; bill and feet paler; in hens yellow areas around head and face are more prominent.
Recessive Silver (Dilute)	Recessive
Melanin is diluted or reduced in feathers and variably in body tissue. Grey areas of plumage changed to a lighter (or silvery) shade; eyes are red in this European variety which is also common in the USA.
Australian Pastel Silver (East Coast Silver)	Recessive
Melanin is diluted or reduced in feathers but retained in body tissue, beak, and nails. Grey areas of plumage changed to a lighter (or silvery) shade which is a lighter on the chest than the back and wings. The tones are very solid and even. Youngsters fledge a light silver-grey colour and, whilst hens change little, cocks darken quite considerably on the first moult. The Pastel Silver is probably the most widely bred of a group of dilute recessive varieties present in Australia which also includes the West Coast Silver and the Silver Spangle.
Pied	Recessive
Melanin is eliminated in patches in both feathers and body tissue. Grey areas of plumage patterned with clear areas which may be white or reveal underlying yellow or cream; feet and legs may have flesh coloured patches. The effect is very variable; perhaps confusingly, those birds with the least grey remaining are known as ‘heavy’ Pieds whilst those which appear near normal are ‘light’ Pieds. Unlike most pieds in other species the patterning of the Pied Cockatiel is more or less symmetrical on each side.
Dark-eyed Clear (Yellow, White)	Recessive
Melanin is eliminated in feathers but not in body tissue. This is an old variety, documented in older European books, but abandonned and virtually forgotten because it is so similar in appearance to the more easily bred Lutino (Ino). However, the recessive ‘clear’ gene may maintain an elusive presence in Lutino and Pied stocks. Such birds draw comment from time to time when their occurrence is recognised in Lutino lines, and I suspect that many so-called ‘Clear Pieds’ are probably of this variety. Very similar in appearance to the Lutino but said to show rather less yellow and have normally pigmented eyes, feet, etc.

Whiteface	Recessive*
Psittacin yellow and orange are comletely eliminated. Ground colour is pure white and grey areas of plumage, having no yellow or cream underlay, have a rich charcoal colouration. Equivalent to Blue in other species.
Paleface (Pastelface)	Recessive*
Psittacin yellow and orange are both reduced in intensity to about half that of the normal. Yellow to cream ground colour may be described as cream to white and the orange ear-coverts become yellow-orange. Equivalent to Parblue in other species.
Whiteface and Paleface form a	Multiple allelic series
Although both these varieties are recessive to normal, it is found that the Paleface is dominant to the Whiteface and they form a mutiple allelic series. This has a number of consequences: a normal Grey can be split for Whiteface or split for Paleface, but not both together: there are two types of Paleface, the pure (double-factor or homozygous) Paleface or the Paleface split Whiteface; the Whiteface cannot be split for Paleface; etc. (See relevant section of The Parblue Puzzle part 4.)

Dominant Silver
(English Dominant Dilute)

Incomplete-
dominant

Melanin is reduced, in the feathers only, in a variable manner. In single-factor form cocks usually retain a dark skull-cap and in hens the brownish tones of the markings prevent them really living up to the silver description. In double-factor examples melanin dilution may be very marked, to the extent that some can be confused with Lutinos at first glance. This colour factor is seen at its best when combined with the Whiteface.

Lutino (Ino)	Sex-linked recessive*
Melanin is substantially eliminated in feathers and body tissue. Absence of grey colouration in feathers reveals the true extent of psittacin yellow and orange ground colour (yellow striations are evident on tail of hen); bill and feet flesh coloured; red eyes on hatching may deepen significantly with maturity. Selective breeding can produce examples with enhanced yellow colouration, frequently given names such as ‘Primrose’, ‘Daffodil’, or ‘Buttercup’, to drive them up the desirability stakes.
Platinum (Australian)	Sex-linked recessive*
This is another variety in which melanin is diluted or reduced in a way which has given rise to its name. It has an allelic relationship with the ino which gives rise to an intermediate form in the male called the Platino. This mechanism is briefly described below. (Note: this type of interaction is quite common in other species where the name Lime is increasingly used in Green birds.)
Lutino and Platinum are	Co-dominant Sex-linked recessives
The Ino and Platinum alleles are both recessive to the wild-type allele but are co-dominant with each other. Hens can possess, on their single X-chromosome, just one of this series of alleles - Normal or wild-type, platinum, or ino - and take on the characteristics given by that one allele. There are only these three forms in the hen and a hen cannot be a split. In contrast cocks have two X-chromosomes and are more varied both visually and genetically. Cocks have four visual forms - Normal, Platinum, Platino, and Ino. A Normal cock can be pure, or it can be split platinum or ino, but not both together. A Platinum has two platinum alleles. A Platino has one platinum allele and one ino allele. An Ino has two ino alleles.
Cinnamon	Sex-linked recessive
Melanin black is changed toward melanin brown and somewhat diluted. Grey areas of plumage changed to a softer grey-brown; plum eyes and lighter feet; in hens yellow areas around head and face are more prominent. Well coloured specimens not seen frequently.
Pearl and Lacewing	Sex-linked recessive
Different forms of the same variety in which there is a reduction in melanin, seen as clear areas of differing size at the centre of grey feathers. This gives an overall lacing or spangling effect which is more prominent in the Lacewing due to larger clear areas. There appears to be an enhancement or increase in the amount of yellow psittacin pigment produced in the clear areas. Hens retain their patterning into adulthood whereas cocks almost invariably revert to near-normal feathering as they mature. Many believe this variety to be the equivalent of the Opaline in the budgerigar.
Yellowcheek	Sex-linked recessive
Often incorrectly called the S/L Yellowface in the USA - don't all non-Whitefaces have a yellow face? Psittacin orange is reduced or eliminated, giving a Cockatiel in which the orange ear-coverts are changed to peach or even merge into the general yellow of the face. Note the distinction between the Yellowcheek and the Pastleface. In the Pastelface yellow and orange are reduced equally; in the Yellowcheek they are reduced differentially.

Some popular composite varieties

Albino (Whiteface Ino)	Sex-linked recessive + Recessive
Combining Whiteface, which loses psittacin yellow and orange, with Ino, which substantially eliminates melanin, wipes the slate virtually clean of pigmentation and produces the all white Albino.
Pearl-Lutino Lacewing-Lutino	Sex-linked recessive + Sex-linked recessive
This is an interesting composite variety (involving crossover and recombination) which shows that in the Pearl (or Lacewing) there is modification in the pattern of distribution of psittacin as well as melanin pigmentation. The ino gene removes melanin and reveals a patterning of yellow which coincides with the central clear areas of the ordinary Pearl form. Barring on the underside of the tail is also evident.

New or doubtful forms

Greygreen ‘Olive’, or ‘Emerald’	Recessive
A new colour form about which little is known at present. Melanin deposition appears to be altered in such a way that it interacts with psittacin yellow to give a colouration which may be described as grey green or olive green. (See article The Greygreen or ‘Olive’ Cockatiel in these pages for a little more informatiom.) Many more experienced breeders now believe that this is not a distinct variety, but rather one of the established Silver varieties in which the underlying yellow psittacin is sufficiently strong as to mingle with the diluted melanin to produce the olive-green coloured effect. Similar effects have been seen in the UK and perhaps elsewhere.
Dominant Yellowface	Dominant
Psittacin orange is reduced or eliminated, giving a Cockatiel in which the orange ear-coverts are changed to peach or even merge into the general yellow of the face. This variety seems to be recognised in the USA but elsewhere there are doubts as to its validity.

I am grateful to Chris Radziun-Woodham and Terry Martin for their assistance in defining some of the varieties listed above.

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The Cockatiel

(Nymphicus hollandicus)

The Primary Colour Varieties

Melanin black is changed to melanin brown and diluted in both feathers and body tissue. Grey areas of plumage changed to a buff or tan colour; eyes are red; bill and feet paler; in hens yellow areas around head and face are more prominent.

Melanin is diluted or reduced in feathers and variably in body tissue. Grey areas of plumage changed to a lighter (or silvery) shade; eyes are red in this European variety which is also common in the USA.

Psittacin yellow and orange are comletely eliminated. Ground colour is pure white and grey areas of plumage, having no yellow or cream underlay, have a rich charcoal colouration. Equivalent to Blue in other species.

Psittacin yellow and orange are both reduced in intensity to about half that of the normal. Yellow to cream ground colour may be described as cream to white and the orange ear-coverts become yellow-orange. Equivalent to Parblue in other species.

Melanin black is changed toward melanin brown and somewhat diluted. Grey areas of plumage changed to a softer grey-brown; plum eyes and lighter feet; in hens yellow areas around head and face are more prominent. Well coloured specimens not seen frequently.

Some popular composite varieties

Combining Whiteface, which loses psittacin yellow and orange, with Ino, which substantially eliminates melanin, wipes the slate virtually clean of pigmentation and produces the all white Albino.

New or doubtful forms

Psittacin orange is reduced or eliminated, giving a Cockatiel in which the orange ear-coverts are changed to peach or even merge into the general yellow of the face.This variety seems to be recognised in the USA but elsewhere there are doubts as to its validity.

Top of Page Introduction to the Cockatiel Other Sites index • Main Articles index • Books • Please take me Home

Psittacin orange is reduced or eliminated, giving a Cockatiel in which the orange ear-coverts are changed to peach or even merge into the general yellow of the face.

This variety seems to be recognised in the USA but elsewhere there are doubts as to its validity.

Top of Page

Introduction to the Cockatiel

Other Sites index • Main Articles index • Books • Please take me Home