okay… As I’m bumming around for a year or so before I actually begin to start breeding budgies, I thought I’d use my time (and you fountains of knowledge) to grapple with the basics…

 

Being a fairly stubborn person, and the fact I think I’ll understand it better if I work it out myself, I’d like to do just that. If I start really slowly and simply with budgie genetics and you correct me where I go wrong (please), I’d really appreciated it.

 

When I say really slowly and simply I mean really and you’ll probably all get annoyed at how slow I am but I want to make sure I understand it… sorry.

 

So, starting simply, from the top we’ll start today’s lessons on basic colours. Would I be correct in thinking that:

 

A. The original/normal colour for budgies is Green/Yellow?

B. The.. uh, ‘common’ underlying (or something!) colour for budgies is blue, and it is the presence of a yellow pigment which makes the:

• Budgie green - (Blue + Yellow = Green)

• The head/face green

C. The absence of the yellow pigment makes:

• The budgie stay blue

• The head/face stay white - (Absence of yellow pigment = white)

D. The yellow pigment is the dominate allele, and the absence of (white) is the recessive.

 

For clarification, when I say Green/Yellow I mean like this:

 

 

And Blue/White is like this:

 

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Phil

Phil, Nerwen, our resident expert, has the patience of a saint. She has been trying to teach me, and sometimes I am sure she gets a razor blade out and considers putting an end to her misery :dbb1:

I will be reading your posts and hopefully learning more too! But *puffs chest out* I understand lutinos and albinos :ausb: They are easy And, I just about understand pieds now! After that, well I am rather pathetic, but, like I said, Saint Nerwen is here to help

:dbb1: at Lin's words.

sure she gets a razor blade out and considers putting an end to her misery

:ausb:

 

A. The original/normal colour for budgies is Green/Yellow?

Yes.

B. The.. uh, ‘common’ underlying (or something!) colour for budgies is blue, and it is the presence of a yellow pigment which makes the:

• Budgie green - (Blue + Yellow = Green)

• The head/face green

not reall sure what you mean with this statment, but yes the presence of yellow makes the green. And a head/face yellow not green

C. The absence of the yellow pigment makes:

• The budgie stay blue

• The head/face stay white - (Absence of yellow pigment = white)

Yes this is right.

D. The yellow pigment is the dominate allele, and the absence of (white) is the recessive.

Yellow is dominate, but the blue (white) is not absence simply overruled by the yellow. Blue is a recessive gene.

 

hope this helps.

So, starting simply, from the top we’ll start today’s lessons on basic colours. Would I be correct in thinking that:

 

A. The original/normal colour for budgies is Green/Yellow? Yes but remember that Green is not a true colour and needs a combination of Blue and Yellow.

 

B. The.. uh, ‘common’ underlying (or something!) colour for budgies is blue, and it is the presence of a yellow pigment which makes the:

• Budgie green - (Blue + Yellow = Green) You got it

• The head/face green

C. The absence of the yellow pigment makes: You got that also

• The budgie stay blue

• The head/face stay white - (Absence of yellow pigment = white)

D. The yellow pigment is the dominate allele, and the absence of (white) is the recessive. Is it? An Allele is an Alternative gene for a particular Locus. Recessive referes to the form of Genetic inheritance followed by a mutant allele

 

If you want to look at the basics of colour pigmentation in Budgerigars, there are three elements. The yellow family pigmentations and the Grey family Pigmentations. The third is the Structural Colour.

 

Where does blue come form you ask if there is only yellow and grey family pigmentations. The structural colour of a feather is how it effects the light that is emited. The grey pigmentation reflected through a particular Structural Colour in the feather produces Blue. Just like the Tyndall Effect - Blue Sky. Different Structural Colour will allow the Grey pigment to look grey as in a grey budgie.

 

Genetics in budgies is very complex with sex linked genes Dominant, Recessive and Co-dominant mutations.

 

As Lin said Nerwen is very good with patience and a general discription of the terminology. She would be best to help.

Edited January 17, 200619 yr by daz

Firstly, and most importantly thank you all for your comments so far. Now back to being out of my depth..

 

The.. uh, ‘common’ underlying (or something!) colour for budgies is blue

 

not reall sure what you mean with this statment..

 

Well, what I meant was - If the only thing which causes the difference between the Green/Yellow variety and the Blue/White variety is the Yellow allele (or gene?), the budgie must always have the blue part? Ack, sorry not explaining very well..

 

I'll try another way:

 

Imagine you had a clean painting pallet - completely blank (White). Now add yellow paint (Like the Yellow allele), the pallet would become just yellow, not green.

 

If you had but blue paint on FIRST, then added a yellow it would become green. As yellow is the only thing which is ever being added (assuming this is correct, addition of the yellow allele) to obtain a blue colour, the blue paint must be in the pallet first, as Blue + No paint = Still blue.

 

Do you see where I’m going? To obtain either a Green/Yellow OR Blue/White budgie, the genetics responsible for making the budgie blue must ALWAYS be there.. This is what I meant by '...'common’ underlying (or something!) colour for budgies is blue...'

 

Please come back to me if you still don't understand what I meant.

 

D. The yellow pigment is the dominate allele, and the absence of (white) is the recessive.

 

Is it? An Allele is an Alternative gene for a particular Locus. Recessive referes to the form of Genetic inheritance followed by a mutant allele

 

Daz I was just wondering if you'd be able to explain this in a little more depth for me as my genetic terminology, well... sucks heh. Is the 'genetic thingy-ma-bob' responsible for making a budgie Green/Yellow or Blue/White a gene or an allele?

 

Yellow is the Dominant ____

White is the Recessive ____

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Phil

Imagine you had a clean painting pallet - completely blank (White). Now add yellow paint (Like the Yellow allele), the pallet would become just yellow, not green.

 

If you had but blue paint on FIRST, then added a yellow it would become green. As yellow is the only thing which is ever being added (assuming this is correct, addition of the yellow allele) to obtain a blue colour, the blue paint must be in the pallet first, as Blue + No paint = Still blue.

 

okay trying to keep it at your terms so its understandable, it is more like the first bit, you start with a white canvas and add both blue and yellow to get the green, becuase you can have just the yellow to get a yellow and white (or yellow and black) bird as all.

okay trying to keep it at your terms so its understandable, it is more like the first bit, you start with a white canvas and add both blue and yellow to get the green, becuase you can have just the yellow to get a yellow and white (or yellow and black) bird as all.

 

Hrm, okay.. Maybe i'll skip over this part heh?

 

I knew you could get all yellow birds, but I thought a different gene was responsible for that? Sorry

 

Phil

Yes a different gene is responsible for them, but the point is Blue isn't the base colour of the birds.

I've recommended this site somewhere else, but I'll recommend it again :hap: I found it very helpful :

 

NAN & FLOCK'S HOME PAGE

 

I think the two best parts of the site are

 

Educational budgie pictures

 

and

 

Nan's No-Tech Genetics

 

Each of these sections has multiple pages, click to continue at the bottom of the pages.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Hi Phil I think you either have breeding knowledge or friends who breed the blue budgie is Quite good possibly out of good exhibition stock.........

 

Come on Phil ( genectics are a little more complex than colours -- you have as you rightly stated dominant and recessives sex linked ........but basically for the leaners ...... ( genotype is the breed they carry ......

phenotype ......is the physical appearance. )

 

Now for a new tip when you start breeding look at the grandparents.... and they will show them selves in the grand Chicks...It is important you keep records of breeding..

 

The Americans some 40 years ago started experimenting with gene changing ( what about CLONES )

 

 

Breeding is hard work no short cuts regards Doc