Cockatiel Mutations In Laymans Terms - Illustrated from Little Wing Aviary

	*Each of our toys has been bird tested ...... and flockmama approved!*
	All our birds are fed Roudybush pellets everyday. They are also fed fresh fruits & veggies, cornbread, rice & bean mixtures and a high quality seed mix . They drink from dishes or water bottles. They are on timed full spectrum lighting. We do not breed our birds more than two clutches a year. After the second clutch they are seperated into resting flights to vacation for the rest of the season!
	*L ife is too short......Have you hugged your bird(s) today?*

What kind of cockatiel do you want?

Often times when I ask "What kind of cockatiel are you looking for?" the answer I usually get is..." I don't know what do you have?" This article is written in laymen's terms in hopes of giving a basic understanding of the various cockatiel mutations that I breed and what they look like. It will help you understand what is available.

Basically cockatiels come in a few body colors, a few cheek patch colors and for lack of a better term....styles!

1. ~STYLE~

Lets discuss style first......Cockatiels come in four distinct styles. They are either Pearl, Pied, a combination of both called Pearl Pied or they are none of the above. All of these styles can come in the different body colors and cheek patch combinations.

PEARL

This is Lily. She is a pearl hen. Basically pearls are markings on the feathers that make a lace like pattern. Pearls can be in a tight pattern or a elongated pattern. Pearls can come in various colors. Lily's pearls are yellow.

PIED

This is Boogie . He is a pied cock. The definition of the word pied means multicolored. Basically this style comes in two forms, light and heavy. A heavy pied will have more light color and a light pied will have less.

PEARL PIED

This is Peabody. She is a Pearl Pied. Notice her body color is yellow but her wings have brown pearls. Here is another picture showing her from the front. Notice the different colors on her chest area. Peabody also happens to be a sex linked yellow cheek but we will get into that later. Peabody would be considered a heavy pied.

NONE OF THE ABOVE

If a cockatiel is not a pearl, pied or pearl pied it falls into this category. Basically it is a solid colored bird with the exception of the face color, cheek patch and a band of color on the edge of the wing. These are known as Normal Grey, Lutino, Cinnamon, Fallow, Emerald ( also known as Olive) and Silvers. More about these below in body colors.

2. ~CHEEK PATCH COLORS~

There are five different cheek patch categories in Cockatiels.

**ORANGE

( This is the most common cheek patch color ) Riley is a Pied with an Orange Cheek Patch. In some hens the orange is duller and looks almost rust like this picture of Grace,

** WHITEFACE

Ok get ready for a curve ball here......Basically a whiteface is a bird that does not have a orange or yellow cheek patch.) Some Whitefaces are actually white like this picture of Ernest.

Here is a picture of Montgomery, He is a Whiteface Pearl Pied....but his cheek patch is actually grey.

Last but not least this is a picture of Beatrice. She is a Whiteface Cinnamon....notice her cheek patch is brown.

**PASTELFACE

Well this is basically what it says it is. It is a pastel orange or a peachy orange cheek patch. It is much paler than the normal orange cheek patch and is quite attractive. This is a Pastelface Pearl.

**SEX LINKED YELLOW CHEEK

My personal favorite. This mutation has a lemon yellow cheek patch. My favorite bird here is my Peabody. I just had to have her! I actually have renamed this bird to Penelope after learning by mistake that it was a female and not a male - Penelope just seems a little more feminine.

**DOMINANT YELLOW CHEEK

This mutation has a sunshine yellow orange tinged cheek patch it kind of reminds me off fluorescent orange.

**These Photos courtesy of The Mutation Station

Orange	Whiteface	Pastelface	Sex Linked Yellow Cheek	Dominant Yellow Cheek

3. ~BODY COLOR~

Cockatiels come in shades of Grey, Yellow, White and Brown.

GREY

* Normal Grey

Monty is a normal grey cock. He has the bright yellow head and orange cheek patch where Camilla is a normal grey hen and has a grey face and a rusty color cheek patch. Some hens have a slight bit of yellow on the head but it is usually very small.

*Emerald also known as Olive

Yes this is more a shade of grey and not at all green like the name suggests. It is more a mixture of grey, whites and yellows. Duncan is a Emerald or Olive cock.

*Silvers

You have two different types here......recessive silver and dominant silver. Basically the difference is in the eye color and shading of the bird. Recessive silvers have red eyes while dominants do not. To make matters more confusing there are single and double factor dominant silvers, which unless you are planning to breed them probably won't matter much to you other than they are slightly different in shades of silver.

This is Maggie she is a whiteface recessive silver pearl hen. I currently do not have a picture of a dominant silver but plan to get one soon.

This picture is of a Double Factor Dominant Silver Whiteface Pearl Pied. It is a beautiful bird and had just weaned when this picture was taken.

**This Photo courtesy of Sweet Heart Aviary

YELLOW

*Lutino

This is one of the most popular colors of cockatiel. It is a Yellow bird with a orange cheek patch and red eyes. The yellow can range from a lemon yellow color to almost white. This is Lizzy. She is actually a Lutino Pearl. A yellow bird with Yellow pearls which are hard to see in this picture.

WHITE

*Whiteface Lutino

You would think a whiteface lutino would be a yellow bird with a white cheek patch but NOT TRUE! Basically this bird is all white with red eyes. Some people inappropriately refer to these as albino's but there are no true albino's in cockatiels. Some all white birds that do not have red eyes are also inappropriately called whiteface lutino's....they are really clear pieds. This is Opal, she is a young Whiteface Lutino Hen. She is a gorgeous snow white color with red eyes.

There are also "Dirty Whiteface Lutino's" These are birds that have markings that showthrough the white. Some people find them attractive and some do not. This is Preston. He is a Cinnamon Whiteface Lutino also known as a dirty lutino as you can see the light brown color coming through his wings.

BROWN

*Cinnamon

A Cinnamon is basically a brown bird. The brown however can range from light to dark, This is a picture of Carson. Carson is a cinnamon hen and a mocha color.

This is a picture of Beatrice. She is more of a chocolate milk color.

*Fallow

A Fallow is a bird with tannish brown feathers, red eyes and pink feet and beak. Here is a picture of Homer who is a Fallow Whiteface Pearl. This is Penny she is a fallow whiteface pied hen. Notice the difference in colors between the birds.

So that pretty much covers it,

What style.....pearl, pied, pearl pied or none

What kind of cheek patch......orange, whiteface, pastel face, sex linked yellow cheek or dominant yellow cheek

and

What body color.....grey, yellow, white or brown.