So I was told there is no such thing as a true grey cockatiel...

[Fae88]

So what mutation is Bruno?

I was told awhile back that there is no longer such a thing as a true grey cockatiel. I was told this on a Cockatiel forum. I was told that it was close to impossible for Bruno to be a true grey. But there was no telling at that time what his true colors would be because he hadn't experienced his first molt yet. I was told that the true grey coloring had been bred out of domesticated lines of cockatiels.

I don't care either way. I am just curious what other cockatiel/parrot owners see....Personally I just see grey lol but I am no expert about colors/mutations.

Forgive the pics my camera on my phone is crap and my Nikon is out of commission. Hopefully they are clear enough. I was trying to get pics of his feathers all over his body.

 

[crimson]

he is a standard grey cockatiel

Normal Grey -             International Cockatiel Resource                          Uniting the World!

 

[riddick07]

I'm guessing by true grey they meant no other genetic factors in the bird (like pied, pearl, cinnamon). Which I would agree is unlikely.

 

[RavensGryf]

I'm guessing by true grey they meant no other genetic factors in the bird (like pied, pearl, cinnamon). Which I would agree is unlikely.

That's what I thought was meant by that.
It's too bad that they're even mixing subspecies of Meyer's parrots and Eclectus, and I'm sure others I'm not thinking of right now. They mix breed for pet quality animals which is fine, but what I think is sad, is that there is no regard to "conservation" of subspecies. Sorry for the sort of OT

 

[MonicaMc]

My thoughts echo riddick's. There are some breeders who strive for "purity" in a species. No hybrids, no splits to mutations, no visual mutations. It is possible to have a normal grey with no splits, but it could be very hard to test whether or not a bird is split for a variety of mutations - especially recessive mutations.


Ravens - some others include conures, cockatoos and amazons - not to mention the other poicephalus species. Ringnecks may even fall into that category. A lot of birds are hybridized because people don't realize they have separate species or subspecies. Sometimes, people hybridize unknowingly trying to achieve specific coloration within offspring - such as bluer blue fronted amazons, or yellower double yellow headed amazons. Truth is, you can't walk through a neighborhood full of flowers or go to the store without coming across hybrid plants. Hybrid species are all around us, so we do need breeders who will strive for purity of species. In some species that's easy to do! In others, it's much more difficult. Of course, hybrids can also be found in the wild, so sometimes it may make it harder to strive for pure if you don't know what you have is in fact pure. (apparently green cheek conures and maroon bellied conures share a gene, indicating that they may have naturally hybridized out in the wild)

 

[MikeyTN]

Monica is right on....I don't know if anyone anymore specializes just the pure grey genes without splits. Unlike out in the wild it is greys that's the pure gene and standard coloring.

 

[jenphilly]

Forget true grey... he's a true beauty!

But, very true that most people want the mutations, so doubt any breeder has a normal grey without some genetics to produce something more 'interesting'.

I know you totally did not mean it this way, but in the horse world, there is an old adage... a good horse is never a bad color