 |
I find the black and red-headed, white-breasted normal hens to be the prettiest of all the color combinations for the
sex.
|
|
|
A four week old gouldian fledgling. The pearly-iridescent nodules are still very clear on the face. On
a side note, I recently installed a blacklight behind the flight, leveled across the top perch. There seems to be a general
shortage of gouldian hens and the additional ultraviolet light is supposed to help even the gender distribution. I will
report on the effect at the end of the breeding season.
|
|
|
|
These three nestlings are almost ready to fledge. This photo is a good illustration of the varying levels of melanin
based on color genetics, that allows sexing the siblings almost from birth. In the picture are a yellow back, a dilute, and
a green back. I can know by the parents genetics that all nestlings with green feathers will be hens, while the nestlings
with lighter plumage will be cocks.The parents of these three are a double factor red head white breast green back cock and
a black head single factor purple breast yellow back hen, so the four possible phenotypes are red headed white breasted
single factor yellow cocks (one pictured here), red headed purple breasted single factor yellow cocks (i.e. dilutes, one pictures
here), and red headed green back hens that are either purple or white breasted.
|
|
|
|
A five week old yellow gouldian. The yellow gene in goulds represses the ability to produce
black melanin in the bird's plumage, which in turn inhibits the feather's ability to reflect blue light. Only the
cartenoids remain, which results in the body becoming yellow or more yellow (i.e. dilute). Also, because of the inability
to produce the black melanin, any area on the bird that would normally be black appears white or off white.
|
|
