Saw This On Tumblr Today...

[ultrav0x 0]

A friend showed me this, it's been doing the rounds on tumblr apparently:

 

 

"Half-Sider Budgie. Very rare and born sterile.

Photographer unknown.

Post source: earthandanimals "

 

 

Taken from earthandanimals.tumblr.com/post/41664868300

 

Is this for real?!?!?! My instincts say a horribly loud NO! and this photo looks like there's been some abuse of photoshop's clone tool in the area around the birds stomach. But then my friend found this website: http://halfsider.com/index.html

Would love to hear the members opinions on this "rare budgie" !!!!!

 

Oh my goodness, is it *actually* real? I was so sceptical, but there's a video on that last website link I posted. What on earth?!!!

Edited January 29, 2013 by ultrav0x

[Birdlove 0]

It's real alright! His name's Twinzy

 

http://halfsider.com/

[Bird Junky 0]

Hi Their not that unusual. They pop up quite often. Strictly they're Yellow face type two

but the yellow only shows on one side of the face & bleeds down into half the body turning

the blue into green . If you examine the breast you will see the feathers are a mix of blue

& yellow = Green looking.....B.J.

[Finnie 0]

BJ, it is believed that half siders come about due to the fusion of two separate embryos, very very early in their development. What results is in actuality two separate birds combined in one, with separate dna. I think the term they use is "Chimera". We had a topic about this some years back. I will go see if I can dig it up.

 

Edit:

 

I searched Chimera on the forum, and there were a few threads that came up, which mentioned that half siders are tetragametic chimeras. But they didn't really have much information, so I googled "tetragametic chimerism" and found this, and many other links:

 

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimera_(genetics)#Tetragametic_chimerism

Edited January 30, 2013 by Finnie

[Bird Junky 0]

BJ, it is believed that half siders come about due to the fusion of two separate embryos, very very early in their development. What results is in actuality two separate birds combined in one, with separate dna. I think the term they use is "Chimera". We had a topic about this some years back. I will go see if I can dig it up.

 

Edit:

 

I searched Chimera on the forum, and there were a few threads that came up, which mentioned that half siders are tetragametic chimeras. But they didn't really have much information, so I googled "tetragametic chimerism" and found this, and many other links:

 

 

 

http://en.wikipedia....metic_chimerism

 

 

Hi Finnie I'll stick with my explanation Its shorter & easier to read...

It may be chimerism but that don't stop it being called a type 2

yellow face......B.J.

[Finnie 0]

BJ, it is believed that half siders come about due to the fusion of two separate embryos, very very early in their development. What results is in actuality two separate birds combined in one, with separate dna. I think the term they use is "Chimera". We had a topic about this some years back. I will go see if I can dig it up.

 

Edit:

 

I searched Chimera on the forum, and there were a few threads that came up, which mentioned that half siders are tetragametic chimeras. But they didn't really have much information, so I googled "tetragametic chimerism" and found this, and many other links:

 

 

 

http://en.wikipedia....metic_chimerism

 

 

Hi Finnie I'll stick with my explanation Its shorter & easier to read...

It may be chimerism but that don't stop it being called a type 2

yellow face......B.J.

 

WOW BJ, I don't want to argue with you, but you sound like the young people these days. Who cares what is right and wrong, as long as it is short and easy to read! They come on here and ask our advice, and if our answer isn't short and easy to read, they skip it and ask for "better" answers. If it's too long, they can't be bothered with it.

 

The problem with genetics is that by nature it is complicated. When you try to explain it with short cuts, it leads to misunderstandings and the wrong use of terms. So a lot of times the answers to genetic questions are going to be long ones.

 

The short truth is, half of Twinzy is a green bird and half of him is a blue bird. There is no yellowface gene involved anywhere at all. (okay, his green half could be split to it.)

[Bird Junky 0]

Hi The original question, Was is it real. Not what is the scientific explanation

of such a phenomenon. I want to breed some. Lol.....

All the budgie types have names with some reference to feather pattern or colour.

So what's wrong with calling it a, Type 2 yellow face half sider?......B.J.

[Finnie 0]

So what's wrong with calling it a, Type 2 yellow face half sider?......B.J.

 

Well, you can call it whatever you want, but if you use words that already have a different meaning, you won't be living in the same reality as everybody else.

 

Type 2 yellowface means something specific, and neither half of this bird is it.

[JimmyBanks 0]

Got to agree with Finnie on this one... there is no sign of yf type 2 here. There's half a green series bird and half a blue series bird.

[Finnie 0]

Lol, well I know that BJ likes to stir things up. If it wasn't for him, there'd be no life around here! So I'm just helping him keep this thread going.

[Bird Junky 0]

Hi Finnie After careful rechecking the image with my mass spectrometer. I have come to the conclusion the blue

that caused me to pronounce the bird a type 2. Was in fact the reflection caused by the camera flash on the blue

metallic perch....Should have gone to 'SPECSAVERS'...So it's just a common or garden. Half sider, then.....B.J.

[Finnie 0]

Yeah, drat those common garden variety half siders!