Black Eyed White Or Yellow

Posted October 25, 201311 yr

What is the easiest way to breed black eyed white or yellow budgies. I've heard that they can be bred between cinnamon and grey wings? Any thoughts?

October 25, 201311 yr

There are a few different types of budgies that fit the description of black eyed white or yellow. One is a double factor spangle, which will get iris rings when it matures. Another is the Dark Eyed Clear, which is a combination of the Clearflight pied gene and the recessive pied gene. That bird will not get iris rings. And then there is the third kind which it seems like you might be thinking of.

That is called a Black Eyed Self (BES), and it is a form of dilute that is so diluted, that neither markings or body color shows up. They are sometimes called Suffused, because they might have some body color showing. Some people think the Black Eyed Self is a separate gene, and other people think is is just the regular dilute gene that has been modified by other factors to create such a pale bird. Also, since there is a difference in terminology from one country to another, and a difference in terminology from older articles published and more recent ones, it can be a little difficult to figure out who means what when they are writing about "yellows", "whites", "suffused" and "selfs".

BUT, I have read that breeders like to add cinnamon when they are developing their BES, because it helps to further wash out any color.

To breed a BES, it is necessary to have either the BES allele, if there is one, or the dilute allele, if what we are dealing with is really just a modified dilute. A regular greywing won't work, unless it is split to dilute or BES.

I guess since the exact genetics of the BES aren't known for sure (and I could be wrong, perhaps this point has been settled recently and I'm not aware) then if you had a poorly marked regular greywing that was on the pale side, and you added cinnamon, which would wash it out more, then you might be able to "fake" a BES.

Please keep in mind that I'm just an armchair geneticist, lol. These are things I've learned from reading. I've bred lots of cinnamon and greywing together, so I'm familiar with how they turn out, but I've never made a BES yet, and I know nothing about show standards. (Just a pet breeder in the U.S.)

If you do a search of the forum for Black Eyed Self, it should turn up several threads, which is where I learned most of what I know, or think I know. That, and some of the classic Budgerigar books, which we have a thread about as well. Some good recommended reading.