:yes:

I have been surfing through the forums and have seen varuos references to the Pastel mutation. I have also seen reference to rainbow budgies.

 

I would love to know more about these types of mutation.

 

What types of birds to you need to breed together to achieve pastels and Rainbows?

 

What catergory do they compete in at competition? Do they ever win 'top bird'.

It is a combo of a number of mutations, often opaline, spangle and yellow face. The would compete in whichever is the first mutation on the show list that they have, so if they have spangle then they would compete as a spangle I imagine :yes:

What types of birds to you need to breed together to achieve pastels and Rainbows?

A classic rainbow is a type 2 yellow face opaline clearwing with any shade of blue or violet, but there are many other combinations that are just as colourful. The easiest to create is a yellow face opaline spangle which you can get by simply crossing a type 2 yellow face blue opaline male with a spangle female. Another very colourful combination is a type 2 yellow face cobalt opaline cinnamon dominant pied. You can get pastel shades by adding cinnamon or dilute to the mix. Opaline and cinnamon are both sex-linked so must be carried by the male and if you are introducing dilute it must come from both sides as it is recessive

There is not an actual "pastel" mutation. Its just someone's personal terminology to describe a bird.

The closest I can think of when reading your description of 'pastel' and 'rainbow' is this:

 

 

He was a pet store bird, so what his parents really looked like is unknown. However, he was a dilute (which translates to your 'pastel' description) and also a yellowface type 2 whitewing blue (which is a 'rainbow'). He was also dominant pied, and opaline, and I suspect violet or slate, as his rump was a teal-slate color. Most of him was a seafoam green due to the type 2 mutation, with pastel blue on his abdomen and his shell markings and spots were a very light grey. Is this what you had in mind? From my limited reading experience, they do not tend to win at shows., but are certainly a most beautiful bird.

Edited November 1, 200816 yr by Rainbow

Thanks for your responses I can see that these types are very visually striking birds. I cant wait to go and get the right combination of birds to breed this effect.