The violet budgerigar mutation is one of approximately 30 mutations affecting the colour of budgerigars. It is one of the constituent mutations of the violet variety.
The violet budgerigar mutation is one of approximately 30 mutations affecting the colour of budgerigars. It is one of the constituent mutations of the violet variety.
| Variety | Pantone Code |
|---|---|
| Skyblue | 310 |
| Cobalt | 2915 |
| Mauve | 535 |
| Violet | 2727 |
The violet factor produces a visual effect in any bird which carries it. The effect depends on whether the violet factor is single or double and whether the dark and blue mutations are present. In total there are 18 visually different combinations of these three mutations. However, only three of these approximate to the colour specified by the visual violet exhibition standard. [1] [2]
The World Budgerigar Organisation has established precise standards for some budgerigar body colours using the Pantone Codes. The colours of the recognised blue series varieties, including visual violet, are shown on the right.
SF violet light greens have contour features similar in shade to a dark green, but the faint ribbing present in the body feathers of a dark green is lacking, giving the feathers of the violet light greens a more satin-like finish. The tail feathers are paler than the navy blue of the dark green, rather like those of the light green, particularly near the quill end, and violet light greens lack the dark blue colour present in the flight feathers of dark greens.
SF violet dark greens have a body color midway between dark green and dark grey.
SF violet olives are very similar to olives.
DF violet light greens, dark greens, and olives are expected to be slightly darker than the corresponding SF birds, but these colours have not been reported reliably.
SF violet skyblues have a body colour ranging from dark skyblue to medium cobalt. Most look rather like pale cobalts. The colour of the tail and flight feathers are the most reliable distinguishing features. Cobalts have navy blue tails throughout their length, while Violet Skyblues have tails, which shade to turquoise at the quill end. The flight feathers of Cobalts are dark blue, those of violet skyblues have a glossy turquoise iridescence rather like those of skyblues but slightly darker.
SF violet cobalts have a bright violet body colour and are known as visual violets.
SF violet mauves are quite similar in appearance to normal mauves. Sometimes a violet tinge is visible in violet mauves when placed next to a mauve, particularly in the rump area.
DF violet skyblues are similar in shade to SF violet cobalts but are a deeper richer violet colour. These, too, are visual violets. Their tails are dark blue with a residual pale blue or turquoise at the quill end, whereas SF violet cobalts have uniform dark blue-violet tails.
DF violet cobalts are similar to SF violet cobalts but usually have a deeper richer violet colour. These are also visual violets.
DF violet mauves are believed to be similar in colour to SF violet mauves.
In Australia, A Burton of Sydney was breeding Violets by 1934 and Mr Harold Pier exhibited a violet in the same year. [1]
In Europe, the first mention of a bird which might have been a visual violet was by C af Enehjelm in 1935 in Copenhagen. In a letter to the Budgerigar Bulletin, [3] he said he had bred a Cobalt, "which I would call violet". In a later article [4] he gave full details of his violet birds, remarking that earlier birds he had seen which were bred in Germany in the late 1920s and marketed as violets were little different from normal Cobalts and lost their violet colour with age. His first true violet, mentioned above, was bred from an apparent dark green/blue cock obtained from a friend and a cobalt hen. This dark Green/blue cock was "very heavily suffused with blue (cobalt)". Presumably, it was in fact a SF Violet Light Green/blue. [5] He went on to breed several more Violets from the progeny of this bird.
In 1924, in England, and 1932, in Australia, birds called "Royal Blues" were bred, but these were not Violets. [5] In the UK the opinion of the highly respected budgerigar breeder, C H Rogers, writing in 1937, [6] was that a true violet was first seen in England at the Cambridge Diploma Show that year. The Violet hen was exhibited by Stevenson and Tucker. As they had eight other birds of the same colour they must have first bred Violets some years earlier.
As Violet Light Greens are very similar in appearance to dark greens it seems likely that a small number of Violet Light Greens were being bred in several places in the 1920s, masquerading as Dark Greens. Their true nature remained hidden, only being revealed when they were mated to birds of the blue series. This could not happen until blue budgerigars became readily available, which was not until the 1930s. [1]
The Violet mutation has an incompletely dominant relationship to its wild-type allele. That is, there are three distinct phenotypes, possessing zero (the wild type), one (the single factor heterozygote) and two (the double factor homozygote) Violet alleles, with the heterozygote having an intermediate appearance between the wild-type and the homozygote.
Because the Violet factor is always visibly expressed no budgerigar can be split for Violet. The heterozygotes of Violet—the SF Violet Greens and Blues—correspond to the splits of the recessive mutations.
The violet mutation is autosomal, but it has not yet been determined whether there is a linkage to any of the other budgerigar mutations. There has been a long-held view that the violet mutation was linked to the blue and dark mutations, but this is now uncertain. [1] It seems more likely that the unexpected breeding results which prompted the view were caused by incorrectly identifying birds carrying single and double violet factors. There is no reported measurement of this or any other linkage.
In the past, there was a view that the violet allele was lethal in double factor form, but this is now disproved [1] with many breeders reporting DF violets.
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The science of budgerigar color genetics deals with the heredity of mutations which cause color variation in the feathers of the species known scientifically as Melopsittacus undulatus. Birds of this species are commonly known by the terms 'budgerigar', or informally just 'budgie'.
The Recessive Pied budgerigar mutation is one of approximately 30 mutations affecting the colour of budgerigars. It is the underlying mutation of the Danish Pied variety, aka Harlequin. It is believed by Inte Onsman of MUTAVI to be the same mutation as the Anti-dimorphic Pied found in some parrots. The Dark-eyed Clear variety results when the Recessive Pied and Clearflight Pied characters are combined.
The Blue budgerigar mutation is one of approximately 30 mutations affecting the colour of budgerigars. It is part of the genetic constitution of the following recognised varieties: Skyblue, Cobalt, Mauve and Violet.
The Dark budgerigar mutation is one of approximately 30 mutations affecting the colour of budgerigars. It is part of the genetic constitution of the following recognised varieties: Dark Green and Olive in the green series and Cobalt, Mauve and Violet in the blue series.
The Yellowface I budgerigar mutation is one of approximately 30 mutations affecting the colour of budgerigars.
The Yellowface II budgerigar mutation is one of approximately 30 mutations affecting the colour of budgerigars. In combination with the Blue, Opaline and Clearwing mutations, the single factor Yellowface II mutation produces the variety called Rainbow.
The Dominant Grey budgerigar mutation, often called the Australian Grey or simply Grey, is one of approximately 30 mutations affecting the colour of budgerigars. It is the basis of the Grey-Green and Grey standard varieties.
The Dilute budgerigar mutation is one of approximately 30 mutations affecting the colour of budgerigars. It is one of the constituent mutations of several recognised varieties: the Light, Dark, Olive, Grey and Suffused Yellows and the Grey and Suffused Whites.
The Clearwing budgerigar mutation is one of approximately 30 mutations affecting the colour of budgerigars. It is the underlying mutation of the Clearwing variety, often known as Yellowwings in the green series and Whitewings in the blue series. When combined with the Greywing mutation the variety is known as the Full-bodied Greywing. When combined with the Yellowface II and Opaline mutations the Rainbow variety is produced.
The Greywing budgerigar mutation is one of approximately 30 mutations affecting the colour of budgerigars. It is the underlying mutation of the Greywing variety. When combined with the Clearwing mutation the variety is known as a Full-bodied Greywing.
The Opaline budgerigar mutation is one of approximately 30 mutations affecting the colour or appearance of budgerigars. It is the underlying mutation of the Opaline variety. When combined with the Yellowface II and Clearwing mutations the Rainbow variety is produced.
The Cinnamon Budgerigar Mutation is one of approximately 30 mutations affecting the colour of budgerigars. It is the underlying mutation of the Cinnamon variety and, with Ino, a constituent mutation of the Lacewing variety.
The Slate budgerigar mutation is one of approximately 30 mutations affecting the colour of budgerigars. It is the underlying mutation of the Slate variety.
The Dominant Clearbody budgerigar mutation is one of approximately 30 mutations affecting the colour of budgerigars. It is the underlying mutation of the Easley Clearbody variety.
The German Fallow budgerigar mutation is one of approximately 30 mutations affecting the colour of budgerigars. At least three types of Fallow, the German, English, and Scottish, all named after their country of origin, have been established, although none of these types is common. They are superficially similar, but adult birds may be distinguished by examining the eye. All have red eyes, but the German Fallow shows the usual white iris ring, the eye of the English Fallow is a solid red with a barely discernible iris and the iris of the Scottish Fallow is pink.
The English Fallow budgerigar mutation is one of approximately 30 mutations affecting the colour of budgerigars. At least three types of Fallow, the German, English and Scottish, all named after their country of origin, have been established, although none of these types is common. They are superficially similar, but adult birds may be distinguished by examining the eye. All have red eyes, but the German Fallow shows the usual white iris ring, the eye of the English Fallow is a solid red with a barely discernible iris and the iris of the Scottish Fallow is pink.
The Scottish Fallow budgerigar mutation is one of approximately 30 mutations affecting the colour of budgerigars. At least three types of Fallow, the German, English and Scottish, all named after their country of origin, have been established, although none of these types is common. They are superficially similar, but adult birds may be distinguished by examining the eye. All have red eyes, but the German Fallow shows the usual white iris ring, the eye of the English Fallow is a solid red with a barely discernible iris and the iris of the Scottish Fallow is pink.
The English Grey budgerigar mutation is one of approximately 30 mutations affecting the colour of budgerigars. It appeared briefly in the 1930s but was lost shortly after and until recently was believed to be no longer extant. However, the appearance of the anthracite budgerigar mutation in 1998 with a seemingly identical appearance and identical genetic behaviour, insofar as can now be determined, suggests the mutation may have been regained.
The Anthracite budgerigar mutation is an extremely rare mutation that occurs in the budgerigar. The mutation, similar to the Violet budgerigar mutation, causes a difference in the coloring of budgerigars. Anthracites have black or very dark gray feathers, possibly with some white depending on the budgerigar in particular. The mutation is believed to have started in Germany, and tends to be local to that area. Currently, most owners wishing to obtain an Anthracite need to import these budgerigars from Germany.
The Australian Pied budgerigar mutation is one of approximately 30 mutations affecting the colour of budgerigars. It is the underlying mutation of the Banded Pied variety.