Fallow Bourke Parakeets, More on Coloration

The photos below were sent by Kenneth and Karen Shelton of their new baby Bourke Parakeets. I was surprised to see a Normal Bourke with red eyes and sent these to Su Yin for her expert evaluation. Here is her comment:


A Fallow Bourke, possibly
Pale Fallow if toenails are clear.

"The red eyed chick is a fallow. From the way it looks, I would guess pale fallow, possibly male. If it has clear toe nails, it'll most likely be a pale fallow, and if it does end up getting more blue on it's brow, it'll be a boy.

There are probably at least 3 different fallow mutations. All are autosomal recessive, meaning both males and female will need 2 copies of the mutation to show the mutated appearance.

Young Normal Bourkes, Fallow at far end.

In this case both parents are split to fallow. I doubt the normal father is split to opaline aka rosey since none of the chicks are rosey. The rest of the 3 chicks are normal with boys split to rosey (due to the rosey mother). All of the 4 chicks can be either gender - you can't tell from the genetics. All the normal chicks may also be split to fallow, but there is no way to tell without breeding them to the same fallow mutation they may be split for. The fallow chick well be split to rosey if it out turns out to be a boy.


Young Fallow Bourke with red eyes.

Hope that helps,

Su

Bourke parents with their young.  Rosy Bourke mother is in front.

Thank you, Su!

Peace and Blessings to All.