White Face Cockatiels?

KierneM · Mar 22, 2014

I've seen a few pictures here and there on the internet, but there never seem to be any for sale. Are they really that rare?
Also, I read on another site that white faces shouldn't be bred to each other, because their chicks would be very weak. Is this true?
I dont have any interest in breeding, I'm just filing info away for reference sake.

TessieB · Mar 22, 2014

Petsmart around here (SC) will have white face cockatiels for sale. They are expensive for cockatiels. There are rumors the white face do not live as long as normal greys. The inbreeding performed to create the white face has lessened this type of bird's vigor. Often color mutations are more susceptible to disease and hereditary defects and don't live as long as their normal color variation brethern.

While the white face is a unique looking individual, I personally like the yellow face cockatiels. To me the yellow face is a more attractive bird. Many people might think the same thing which is why you might not see that many for sale.

thekarens · Mar 22, 2014

They aren't rate, but they are more expensive. I'm not sure I'd believe the bit about shorter life span without medical proof.

With lineolated parakeets (what I have) you can't breed two inos together. I have a creamino hen and I couldn't breed her to another creamino or lutino. If I wanted an ino baby I'd have to breed her to a split to ino male.

There's a few breeders on here. I'm sure they'll speak up soon. Personally I think the white faces are stunning.

KierneM · Mar 22, 2014

I tried to read up on color mutations in cockatiels, but the most information was on a Finnish(?) site, and Google Translate couldn't make heads or tails of any of it.
If the Petsmart in SC is like the one here in MD, I think I'll wait until a breeder here has birds for sale. The cashier at my local store tried to 'hook me up' with a cage, food, and freestanding perch combo that was about 20% more expensive than the other pet store's prices for same. To top it all off, the cage was about a two foot cube. Nowhere near big enough for two birds, if my research is correct...

strudel · Mar 22, 2014

I wasn't sure what you were talking about, searched up this info....

Whiteface Cockatiels « The National Cockatiel Society

Unless I'm missing something, that's what my Doris is. They aren't rare here, they are not the most common type, but there are lots about.

crimson · Mar 22, 2014

this may help you

white face cockatiels are not rare, just not as common as say-Lutinos, or Pieds.

Whiteface - Just Cockatiels!

strudel · Mar 22, 2014

Uh-oh. According to that, Doris is a boy....

crimson · Mar 22, 2014

KierneM- maybe you post a picture?

thekarens · Mar 22, 2014

strudel said:
Uh-oh. According to that, Doris is a boy....

Doris probably doesn't care

strudel · Mar 22, 2014

No, and I'm still calling him Doris. Explains the bickering sessions at night, though. Tony also has the wrong idea, I think.

KierneM · Mar 22, 2014

LOL, who cares what Doris is as long as they're happy, right?
I don't have any birds yet, I was just surfing the net checking out what I could find. Thanks everyone for the nifty links. Guess my google-fu failed me.

MonicaMc · Mar 22, 2014

The second cockatiel I cared for was a whiteface male! He had the most gorgeous song! And I miss it so much! Stupid me, I never got any recordings of it!

He was a rehomed bird, given to me because his mate (also a whiteface) had died. I had him for 6 months before finding a new home for him, as he was not as happy as he could be in my home. He was not a pet bird, so I placed him in an aviary with other cockatiels.

Later on, I was given a family of cockatiels, the hen being a whiteface (and subsequently, her offspring split whiteface). She ended up passing away a couple of years ago due to health problems.

My favorite mutation is a whiteface pearl! Currently though, I do not own any whiteface tiels.

strudel · Mar 22, 2014

MonicaMc said:
He had the most gorgeous song!

Are cockatiels like budgies, where the boys are more likely to "talk"?

That first picture is what Doris looks like.

MikeyTN · Mar 22, 2014

I have 7 whiteface babies right now. To me they're not that rare. I have a few whiteface pearls right now.

This one is a pied whiteface pearl!

This one is a cinnamon pearl pied whiteface!

Sterling1113 · Mar 22, 2014

Oooh, I've never seen one in person.. first time seeing them online too!!! (I never search for tiels though. I had them a long time ago and though they're fantastic birds, memories of mine are tied to rather unfortunate happenings in my family. So I don't think I could own another, no matter how hard I tried.)

Also- about gender- to my understanding, tiels are gender dimorphic, yeah? Girls and boys look different?
Aside from the girls being generally less *bright* as far as the colours go, and generally less talky, unless it changes with colour mutations then females have stripes on the underside of the tail feathers, as males do not.
I could be wrong though, that's just from what I remember heh.

P.S. Mikey your tiels are absolutely beautiful. I would love to see one in person one day. They're like porcelain dolls.

RavensGryf · Mar 22, 2014

I think the Whiteface gray normal males are stunning. That's what I'd get if I wanted a tiel

Albinos are really pretty too.

MikeyTN · Mar 22, 2014

Oh I've got a couple Albinos (Lutino Whiteface) as well right now!

RavensGryf · Mar 23, 2014

All of those mutations are gorgeous Mikey! I saw albinos at the bird store the other day. So pretty, but they were too wild and ran away when I tried to hold them.

MikeyTN · Mar 23, 2014

The first picture of the Pied Pearl Whiteface and the Albino are siblings. The Cinnamon Pearl Pied Whiteface is my 2nd generation baby. Her grand father is a Pied Whiteface and grandma is a Cinnamon Pearl. Her daddy is a Pearl and momma is a Lutino.

tungtruong4 · Mar 23, 2014

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh, those are a gorgeous white face you have Mikey, are lutino and white face have the same eyes color? and what's the different between a White face hen and a Normal grey hen to me they look like the same :grey:

White Face Cockatiels?

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Help sour crop 25 days old cockatiel

I got a new white face cockatiel!

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