Alright so meet my first two budgies - the first is pretty simple she's a lacewing hen but my questions come from the cock bird. See, he looks grey but his cheek patches are blue which I've been told means he's actually mauve. He's normal as well is he not?

 

 

 

 

 

I am no expert.

 

In my opinion he may be a double factor grey (DF).

 

You will only know for sure if you breed. If you breed to a non-grey hen and get all greys then definetly DF grey.

Thanks Nick!

 

It seems like the road to becoming an expert is a very long and winding one.

 

Df grey, eh? Honestly I hadn't thought too hard on whether he was single or double factor but you're right, I'll definitely know when I breed him next year. Out of curiosity what makes you think he'd df? What are the visual clues?

Beyond any other indicators, he definately looks to be a grey bird, If he was mauve you should see some mauve color definition coming through in the pics.

 

I'd call him a grey.

That's what I thought and what I've been calling him since I purchased him my questions came simply from the cheek patches and a book which claims that greys have grey cheek patches and mauves have the blue/violet - but he honestly doesn't show any mauve colour definition whatsoever which still makes me think grey. Thanks for your help! So far it's looking like grey is the most popular opinion

Thanks Nick!

 

It seems like the road to becoming an expert is a very long and winding one.

 

Df grey, eh? Honestly I hadn't thought too hard on whether he was single or double factor but you're right, I'll definitely know when I breed him next year. Out of curiosity what makes you think he'd df? What are the visual clues?

 

There are no visual clues for DF.

 

My guess was based on the very dark grey color showing in pictures, and my confusion with DD & DF!!.

 

Could be a Double Dark Factor (DD) due to dark grey coloring of body and cheek patches. In particular the second picture of rump, very dark grey.

 

You will need to breed to determine type. I have read its best to breed to sky blue.

 

I am no expert! The experts seem to have abandoned this forum?

 

Cheers

Nick

Here are some pics of a Mauve colored bird to get an idea of the color factor compared to grey

 

http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/ee507/bdelara1/IMG_9971.jpg

 

http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/ee507/bdelara1/IMG_9957.jpg

 

http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/ee507/bdelara1/IMG_9884.jpg

Wouldn't a grey have a black tail, and a mauve have a very dark blue tail? I suppose that might be hard to tell apart. And I think the grey cheek patch of a grey could also be called a dark slate blue? I agree that the bird looks grey.

 

Very pretty birds. You folks in Australia have a lot better access to lacewings than we do here in the U.S. I know of a few people who breed them, but they are far away and expensive (and only show types). I am working on breeding my own in the pet type version, by pairing cinnamons with inos.

 

Oh, and also, welcome to the forum, varified!

I checked his tail today and pitch black, I also looked up the shade 'dark slate blue' and that's precisely the colour of his cheek patches, so thank you Finnie, Nick and Trefto for the help! I'm now 99% sure that he's grey - which is what I bought him believing. I'll only be 100% sure when I breed him sometime next year but I'm reasonably confident now that he is indeed what I wanted him to be so that's great! I wouldn't have minded if he were mauve though, he's still a great bird.

 

Ah thank you Finnie, I love them both a lot! I went to a bird sale (where I purchased these two) and I was surprised by the amount of breeders who were selling lacewings and they were no more expensive than any other budgies available. Good luck with your cinnamons and inos I hope you can get some nice markings in them sometime soon