Dr John Pilkington answers questions on Genetics in budgerigars

Budgerigars Galore

Question to Dr John Pilkington from Nancy

Question 7b: How can one tell visually if a mauve budgie has a violet gene? Or is breeding the only way to tell? I have heard that a skyblue with a violet gene will look like a cobalt, but with a more turquoise tail. Are there any comparative pictures anywhere?

I will answer this question in reverse order: There are comparative pictures in the book Genetics For Budgerigar Breeders by Taylor and Warner, but they are not ultra-clear since they are quite small pictures. The Violet Skyblue does look very similar to the Cobalt, but I reckon that you can distinguish between the two varieties - the Violet Sky blue has a violetish tinge of colour on the nape of the neck around the level of the spots. The Violet Mauve is a darker violet colour than the Violet Cobalt and not as dull as a Violet Grey. If you know that one of the parents was a Violet, that is always a clue. The breeding of a suspected single factor Violet should produce approximately 50% offspring possessing the Violet gene.

Editors' note: I regret that Dr Pilkington is unable to answer any further questions.

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