Not quite the same things as a blackface budgie but one called a coalface.

 

 

 

 

http://www.budgieworld.co.uk/15.html

 

 

blackface http://didiermervilde.bestofbreeds.net/didier/blackface.htm

 

and a hen I used to have that I called MUDDY

Heavely flecked?

looks interesting Kaz, Ratzy her is heavily flecked but if you look at the throat spots feathers of this 'coalface' budgie they are totally black not with the normal black spot.

 

sounds like the breeder doesn't have the parents any more to try for another like him. it will be interesting to hear if any chicks appear with this of his.

Sometimes I think that some people are so hopeful of discovering somethign new, that they try to see things that are not there.

 

The blackface, yes, i agree with, but this coalface - to me, it is just a heavily flecked opaline. The spots are so big, that they look like just one big messy spot.

 

I might be in the minority, and I am often there for some views of mine, but there is no way that I would call the "coalface" a new variety.

Sometimes I think that some people are so hopeful of discovering somethign new, that they try to see things that are not there.

 

The blackface, yes, i agree with, but this coalface - to me, it is just a heavily flecked opaline. The spots are so big, that they look like just one big messy spot.

 

I might be in the minority, and I am often there for some views of mine, but there is no way that I would call the "coalface" a new variety.

 

I agree with dave. Unless they are able to reproduce it in a determined fashion - eg show that it DEFINATELY passes from parent to child in a dominant, recessive or sex linked fashion then to me it is just a heavily flecked bird. Even a single new mutation isnt a variety unless and until the genetic pass on is determined and the mutation is established within a sustainable population.

Im with Dave and Dean on this. To many people are too quick to label a bird a new mutation. Generally they have a little to no understanding of genetics of colour.

 

I already mentioned this on another thread but I will say it again here.

 

I bred a hen back in the 80's with a black head and neck. She was hatched a completley looking normal Opaline Light Green. On her first moult she produced an abundance of black feather. Back then I gave my birds more sunflower seed than I do now and she may well have been one of those birds that likes one seed far too much and gorged herself on it. As she did she was producing new feathers which at this time. The oils in the sunflower can enhance colour to a certain degree. Opalines are a melanin distribution gene and over time what made them attractive has been lost in favour of the show bench. The result is the extra melanin that is now produced and in some individuals to such an extent that some birds appear to have spots on their heads. If enough spots join up (feathers overlap each other) it would appear as a solid area of black.

 

The one thing I have always noticed about these birds pospping up is 1. they are Opalines and 2. they are always hens. I have yet to see a cock bird present with this phenomenon. Could there be some hormonal influence going on here also?

to me those throat feathers look nothing like normal feather even on Heavily flecked birds there is still only spots not total black.

 

of cause this is a one off bird again to back up the claim more will need to be produced.

Very interesting, has there been talk about a new mutation like this at the different shows?