Eclectus Mutation

So even though I don't think I'll ever breed birds I'm fascinated by mutations. I was looking up the blue mutation eclectuses (eclecti?) that Roz had put up pictures of a while ago just out of curiousity of how much breeders get for them (I found out it was around 20 to 30 grands, bee tee dubz...) and found this...

Now for any other eclectus people who may stumble onto this, I don't recommend landofvos.com for anything other than the forum, but I thought this was CRAZY. This lady made a post asking about some yellow feathers that were showing up on her male. She spent a ton of money on vet tests because they were worried it was a medical thing, feathers changing, his beak was paler than the usual orange, feet were light, etc. THEN, about a year later, the whole bird looked like like a freakin' bag of mixed vegetables!!!




Do "mutations" normally take time to develop? Obviously it was something genetic because the bird was healthy, but aren't mutations normally just born, well... mutated? Or is it something like grey horses and Lipizzans that are born black and get lighter as they get older?

**EDIT** After a little bit of reading I guess the male eclectus can grow yellow feathers if they pluck and damage the follicle, but this bird is actually a different color - his beak and feet are lighter and even the feathers on his head are yellow.

That is CRAZY!

It wouldn't be a mutation, I wouldn't think unless you are right and the mutation is to a process like greying in horses. I have a fleabitten grey and from a "how does this work" standpoint, it is just wierd. I have seen photos of very old birds which had gone yellow, so I think losing blue pigment is perhaps analogous to greying in mammals. Or, I think Roz mentioned vitiglio in connection with birds on another thread, that would be another possibility. But it must be something affecting the skin/follicles, either as a result of aging (with a genetic component in how aging expresses), environment or disease.

LyzGrace wrote:

Do "mutations" normally take time to develop? Obviously it was something genetic because the bird was healthy, but aren't mutations normally just born, well... mutated? Or is it something like grey horses and Lipizzans that are born black and get lighter as they get older?

Sort of/some. Like male pearl cockatiels lose their pearling over successive molts (some lines keep their pearling for several years before losing them). Mutations need to be worked with over years to see what the mutation does. That's why they're so expensive. A lot can happen over the 2-10 years it takes to establish a mutation.

ScooterNScotty wrote:

It wouldn't be a mutation, I wouldn't think unless you are right and the mutation is to a process like greying in horses. I have a fleabitten grey and from a "how does this work" standpoint, it is just wierd. I have seen photos of very old birds which had gone yellow, so I think losing blue pigment is perhaps analogous to greying in mammals. Or, I think Roz mentioned vitiglio in connection with birds on another thread, that would be another possibility. But it must be something affecting the skin/follicles, either as a result of aging (with a genetic component in how aging expresses), environment or disease.

From my understanding, vitiglio is a genetic issue that causes certain areas to not have pigment. So those areas would be white, not yellow. Not 100% clear on how vitiglio expresses in birds.

BTW: I saw on-line blue mutation(or whatever I should name it) of Amazon, prize was from Mars, but they looked beautiful!

Proud to say my father in law bread the first orrange and rust red electus mutation in the world. She has 2 brothers whith the same genes - orange under the wings. And now there are 2 more babies in the nest. in two years time she can bread the first male with a diffirant collour.

Chantel -
Hi! Welcome! And would love to see pics!

How did I miss this thread for so long??

That ekkie is so cool! I want one!

And hello and welcome, Chantel! I agree - pictures would be much loved!

Realy tried more than 30min to upload photo. Just don't seem to work. Sorry guys she realy is a beuty.

Chantel wrote:

Realy tried more than 30min to upload photo. Just don't seem to work. Sorry guys she realy is a beuty.

Aw.

Did it maybe upload and you aren't aware? The button used to upload a picture from your machine sends the picture to https://servimg.com/, and you have to go there to get your image location. That confused the heck outta me the first time. I ended up re-uploading my picture a good 2-3 times before realizing I was missing something.

Thank you, i also loaded it 5 or more times onto that site, but was still not able to post it here.

Chantel wrote:

Thank you, i also loaded it 5 or more times onto that site, but was still not able to post it here.

Here's the picture Chantel loaded into the gallery.



Very pretty bird!

wow- gorgeous and very unique eclectus!

Wow, beautiful coloration!