Reader Question on Naming Bourke Colors and More

QUESTION:

Hello Gail,  Last week, I acquired a pair of Bourke's.  The male is a dark-eyed Rosey, and I believe the female is a red-eyed lutino.  I've attached a picture of them.  What would be the correct terms for their mutations? 

They had two tiny fuzzy little dark-eyed chicks when I got them on the 26th of this month (picture taken today is attached).  I am assuming they hatched on the 24th and the 26th.  With my other parrots, their eggs tend to hatch two days apart.  Is it the same with Bourke's?  There were several other eggs, but some were not fertile, two were no longer viable, and I'm not sure about the other one.  I don't know if it's a DIS or not at this point, so I'm just going to leave it alone.

The father is doing a great job of feeding the mother millet, a safflower seed blend, pellets, and freshly-chopped veggies.  The mom comes out occasionally, but is in the box probably 90% of the time. 

I've raised parrots (green-cheek conures, parakeets, English budgies, parrotlets, and cockatiels) and even doves for years, handfeeding all but the doves.  However, as I mentioned above, I'm totally new to Bourke's, and I want to become educated on them.

Though I've raised parrots for years, I'm not at all good with genetics or being able to keep mutation names straight.

Will you please explain to me the difference between lutino and rubino?  I understand a rubino to be a cross between a rosey and a lutino.  And I understand that a rosey is another word or opaline.  Is that correct?  But what are the differences in appearance? 

What exactly makes a fallow a fallow?  Can you have a dark-eyed lutino or rubino, or are the eyes always red?  Can a rosey have red eyes, or will they always have dark eyes?  Can any of the offspring between my pair be a normal Bourke's, or will they definitely be rosey or lutino or maybe even rubino? 

I saw in a video of yours that you band on approximately Day 9 (or when their little eyes open).  With all of my birds, I tend to band on Day 8, but 9 works for me if you think that's best.  I've read elsewhere that the English budgie/parrotlet/parakeet band is appropriate.  Do you agree?  I just so happen to have this size as I've raised may of those chicks.  Thank you in advance for sharing your expertise!  - Dana

Dana's mated pair.

Dana's Lutino and clutch.

ANSWER: 

Hello Dana, 

Wow so many questions, all good ones though. All Lutinos or Rubinos have red eyes. All fallows have red eyes. To be fallow, a Bourke will have gray edged wings instead of black, and red eyes. Gray can be very dark or very light. Bourkes that are fallow can be any shade of rose (even dark rose), or any shade of pink, but will always have lighter wing edges and red eyes if they are fallow.

Lutino and Rubino are really the same except that to be named Rubino, a Bourke must have rose or pink all the way down its back to the beginning of its tail. Like the bird in your picture, a Lutino can have some pink on its back, but it doesn't reach to the tail. Instead part of the back or rump is yellow. Some Lutinos are all yellow from back of their head to their tail, others like yours have more pink.  

A Rosy (my preference for spelling, although maybe I'm being out-numbered by Canada and Europe who write Rosey with an "e") ... A Rosy Bourke always has dark eyes, otherwise it would be a fallow. A Rosy Bourke always has dark-edged wings. 

The color of your babies could be normal if the male has a normal parent or grandparent. Odds are better that they will be Rosies. Note that normal babies in the nest develop dark feet, whereas a Rosy will have light colored feet. Occasionally, a Rosy will have feet that are not pink, but slightly between the dark color of a normal and a Rosy. Those, I believe, are Rosies that are split to normal. 

Bourkes with dark eyes, cannot be Lutino. However, your hen could produce Lutino males. She can only carry the gene for her own color. She decides the sex off all the offspring, as you may know from raising other birds. Birds are different in this way from mammals. In birds, it is the female that determines the sex, not the male. Your male, however, could possibly be split to another color beside his own. Only male Bourkes can be split for another color. If you know the color of his parents and grandparents, that helps... 

With bands, you can use either Budgie or English Budgies sizes. I have only used the smaller Budgie sized bands although the site I get them from (L&M Bird Bands in San Bernardino, CA), says that English Budgie bands work too. My Linnies used Parrotlet or Lovebird sized bands, and those would not have worked for my Bourkes. Although I band at 8 or 9 days, I'd keep checking your babies. That timing works best for clutches of four, five or six. When there is only one or two babies, they grow faster as they get fed more, and might need to be banded earlier. :-)

I highly recommend a copy of my newly published, "Rosie Bird's Guide to Small Exotic Birds."  In that book I tried to answer most of the questions I frequently get. It also has a chapter on egg binding and what to do in an emergency. There is also a chapter devoted exclusively to Bourkes, my favorites.

Here is a link to it on Amazon in the USA, but it is also available from Barnes & Noble and other booksellers, as well as Amazon in most other countries. Please do a review ... I will greatly appreciate it. Thanks!    

Rosie Bird's Guide to Small Exotic Birds by Gail A. Lewis

Peace & Blessings,

Gail

www.amazon.com/dp/198676348X/

Baby Bourke Parakeet Banding

Example of supplies to have ready.

Supplies Needed: Mineral oil, a plastic lid or other small container to hold a few drops, a toothpick, a paper towel and the band(s).

Cherry with her baby before banding.

This baby is about the right size for banding. Any smaller and the band will come off. Mother birds sometimes try to remove them. At nine days old, his feet are just the right size.

Bands should be slid over the three longest toes first. You will probably have to grab them on the other side of the band and push it back toward the "knee" joint. Mineral oil on the band helps this process. Some people use petroleum jelly, but I like mineral oil.  Still holding the band back on the leg, the last toe to go on is the smallest, inside toe. It's necessary to use a toothpick to pull it outside the band.

If you don't need a toothpick to get the small inside toe out of the band, the bird will probably lose the band in a day or two and you'll have to repeat the process when his foot is a little larger.





Baby is now safely home with his mom.



Happy Banding!

A Baby Bourke’s Future Color

If you keep mixed couples, i.e., one Normal Bourke and one Rosy Bourke, you may wonder what their newly hatched babies are going to look like.

The Bourke book I own, published in the UK, says that Normals will have gray fuzz and Rosies will have white fuzz, and that’s how you can tell what they are going to be. Balderdash! All my fuzzy little baby Bourkes look the same even though some grow up to be Normals and some grow up to be Rosies. They all appear to have fuzz that’s more white than gray, sort of an off-white.

Maybe early Rosy babies were fuzzy white and Normals with no heterozygous genes were fuzzy gray? Mine always look alike, even when both colors are in the same clutch.

That said, there is another way to guess their future color. From their feet! Most Normals have dark feet and those destined to grow mostly pink feathers will have pink feet. That said, one of my current Rosy babies has feet with both brown and pink skin. It has no other Normal features, so I think you can safely assume that a baby bird with “striped” feet will be Rosy. The striping is unusual though.

Once their feathers begin to bud out, you will soon recognize pink dots of color on the backs of the Rosies.

As a reminder, Bourke color is sex-linked and babies will be the color of the parent of the opposite sex. This means a Rosy dad and a Normal mom will produce males that are Normal Bourkes and all their hens will be Rosy Bourkes and vice versa; a Rosy hen will produce Rosy sons and her Normal mate will produce Normal hens.

I have one pair, however, who produce 50/50 of each color and both are Normals. The male had a Rosy father and a Normal mother, so he is the Normal color. Apparently he’s heterozygous. All his progeny who are pink have been hens. All the Normals have been male. If you want more explanation of homozygous and heterozygous, query the internet. There’s more info. out there than I can provide. Suffice it to say that he carries the gene for Rosies, as apparently did many other Normals, or we wouldn’t have our beautiful Rosies. Smile.

May you have Rose-colored Blessings Galore.

Breeding The Colorful Little Grass Parakeet  $29.99 from Amazon

Splendid Reflections: 40 Years of Grass Parrakeet Husbandry  $29.28 from Amazon

Tuesday Baby Photos

Homely little 8-day-old baby Bourke parakeet. The blur by his beak comes from throwing his head back suddenly. You can see right through their stomach and craw at this age.  He is out of the nest in order to be banded. Banding usually takes place at 7-9 days. He's #16. The band reads EGL is for our aviary, OR for Oregon, and 10 represents hatched in 2010.

The additional black plastic band tells me who his parents are after he's grown and on his own. In this case, Bonnie & Clyde.

The tiny lid holds mineral oil that helps the bands to slide on easily. A flat toothpick aids in getting the fourth and smallest toe out of the band after it's first slipped over the three longest toes.

We've already had as many baby Bourkes this year as we had all of 2009 (it wasn't a good year). The beginning of 2010 is starting to be a wonderful year for baby Bourkes. This little fellow has a sibling in the nest, and three other hens are currently on fertile eggs.

Just to prove this little baby is alive and well ... Here are some of his older siblings. They like to fly and land on me in all sorts of places. Fortunately, in this photo at least, not on my head!

Banding Small Baby Birds

A note on the photos above: Budgerigar parakeets are bald when they hatch and that’s normal for them. Baby Bourkes, shown here, hatch with white or gray fuzz. Splendids have some fuzz too. Neither are as fluffy as a baby chicken, but they do have soft fuzz.
There is a small window when baby birds are able to be banded. If you wait too long, their feet will be too big. If you band too early, the bands will come off. Some mothers actually remove them! I like to try to wait until the mother leaves the nest before removing babies. It will disturb her less, however, don’t let that keep you waiting too long to band. The books say 7 to 9 days is appropriate. I recommend not bothering the nest any time before that first week. With mine, nine days seems about right, seven is usually too soon. The ultimate decision is the size of the baby’s foot.

Most of my babies seem ready to band when they open their eyes. When that happens, I remove them and look at their feet. By trial and error, you’ll soon learn what sized feet look right.

Always be gentle with your babies. Talking sweetly to them will help tame them. The three longest toes need to slip through the band first. I use mineral oil on the bands to make them slip on easier. Some people “paste” the toes together with petroleum jelly. That works on some babies, and not on others. Some will hold still and make the process easy. Others will squirm and pull their foot out every time you think you’ve got the band on.

Point the three longest toes forward and hold them together, slipping the band around them. Gently pushing the knee forward helps me to keep the band on. Once over the three longest toes, the smaller, inside toe will be pushed flat against the leg. Use a toothpick (preferably a flat toothpick if you can find them), and slip it under that toe, pulling it out of the band. The baby may squeak, but I’ve never had an injured toe. Be very careful not to poke the baby’s body with the toothpick. Aim the toothpick “away” from the baby’s body when going under the toe to pull it out.

There is a metal tool that’s offered to help band baby birds. However, the ones I’ve received had sharp, rough edges and I’ve refused to use them.

Banding baby birds has more value than most people realize. By putting the year on the band, you will always know how old that bird is. You can identify yourself as the breeder and the state where the bird hatched.

Colored bands help you keep track of their parentage. It’s an especially good idea for a small flock where you want to avoid inbreeding whenever possible. That’s of value when you sell your babies too. Buyers will want to obtain unrelated birds. Also, pet shops that purchase your birds should ask that they be banded to prove that they are not imported from another country.

Large pet shops and chains often ask that the birds be tested for certain contagious diseases. That’s something to remember when buying your first pairs. My babies go through a larger breeder who markets them for me and tests all birds before they go out.

If you keep a closed, protected flock you should never have a problem. We’ll discuss the potential for diseases in another post.

Smaller pet shops may be less strict and more willing to take your birds without bands or testing. I’ve never been willing to deal with small, local pet shops that want to take the birds “on consignment.” That means that you must depend upon them to adequately protect and care for your birds. Under this method they have nothing to lose and you assume all risks, even if they die from neglect or are exposed to other sick birds. You're only paid if and when a bird sells. If it dies, it’s your loss. If you ultimately take it back, you are exposing the rest of your flock to whatever that bird may have been exposed to.

Back to banding: Both plastic and metal bands in many sizes are available. Bourkes and Splendids use the same sized band as a Budgie. We order our bands online in October or November each year. Orders are in multiples of 25 etched bands. We’re optimistic and always order 50 instead of 25, although we’ve never exceeded 25 babies in a season. If we had 26, however, it would be tragic to not have a band. Order early because you may not receive them right away.

On the bands you’re allowed four letters to identify yourself as the breeder. We’ve chosen to put my husband’s and my first initial with our last initial (so we only use three letters: EGL). Also we put the year and our state. Each band is numbered, one to fifty and the first baby hatched that year is #1. So, it will read: EGL OR 09 1 … OR is Oregon. The state and year are smaller and face across the band instead of around it.

We order our bands online from L & M Bird Leg Bands in San Bernardino, CA: http://home.earthlink.net/~lmbird/lmcat.html I prefer aluminum “budgie” bands for the information and order plain colored plastic bands for parent identification.

Banding may seem like a challenge at first, but eventually it gets easier and easier as confidence increases. God bless you and your babies … be they feathered or not.