Budgerigar Colours and Mutations in easy stages.
This is the easy part because we have only two colours in budgerigars,green ones and blue ones.
This is true in the broadest sense of the words where they are refered to as blues series or green or yellow series birds.
Start removing,seperating or adding the two colours blue and yellow and this allows other colours to appear.
All budgies fall into one of two basic varieties. Either they have a yellow pigment or they lack a yellow pigment base and are therefore white based.Normally this is easy to tell because the base colour is visible in the mask and between the head and wing markings.(Except the yellow faces).

Light Greens..
Basic Genetics:
Yellow-base - dominant
LIGHT GREEN - Body colour..bright grass green-cheek patches violet-spots black-eyes black with white iris-tail dark blue - legs and feet blue/grey mottled.
Green is dominant to blue and no other budgie can carry green in a hidden form,the greens can carry many hidden colours.
If we now take the yellow away from green that leaves us blue. In white-based budgies there is no yellow base pigment,so the blue structure of the body feathers results in bright blue coloration.
Sky Blues
Basic Genetics - White Base Recessive.
SKY BLUE. body colour deep sky blue - cheek patch violet - eyes black with white iris ring - tail dark blue - legs and feet blue/grey mottled - spots black.
Blue is recessive to green and can be carried in a split form in a green series bird.
The Dark Factor.
With each colour and variety of budgerigar there are three shades,light medium and dark,each
controlled by the dark factor.
This is not a colour but a genetic factor which changes the depth of shade of each colour series.
Let us look at the greens.
Light Green Dark Green
no dark factor one dark factor
Olive green
two dark factors
DARK GREEN-body colour deep green-cheek patch violet-eyes black /white iris-tail dark blue- legs and feet blue/grey mottled - spots black.
OLIVE GREEN-body colour deep olive green-cheek patch violet-eyes black/white iris-tail dark blue- legs and feet blue/grey mottled - spots black.
And now the blues.
sky blue cobalt mauve
No dark factor. one dark factor two dark factors
COLBALT-body colour cobalt blue-cheek patches violet-eyes black/white iris-tail dark blue -legs and feet blue/grey mottled - spots black.
MAUVE-body colour deep mauve-cheek patches violet-eyes black/white iris-tail dark blue - legs and feet blue/grey mottled - spots black.
violet cobalt violet spangle but also a feather duster. violet greywing
VIOLET-body colour intense violet-cheek patches violet-eyes black/white iris-tail dark blue- legs and feet blue/grey mottled - spots black.
The violet is a modifier with a dark factor.
Other blue series birds are the albino , double factor spangle white and the dark eyed clear white.
Albino Double factor white spangle
note - the red eye does not show in the albino picture
Dark eyed clear
Creamino is not a recognised name on the show bench.
This is a combination of Albino and Yellowface or Goldenface. They will maintain the red eyes and lack of all pigmentation except for the yellowface or Goldenface.
.
ALBINO- body colour white with no blue or cinnamon suffusion-cheek patch silvery white- eyes plumred with white iris - tail white - wings white with no cinnamon or blue suffusion - feet and legs fleshy pink - the cocks cere is fleshy pink.
DOUBLE FACTOR SPANGLE WHITE- white free from any suffusion-cheek patch silvery white- tail white - spots non visible - eyes black with white iris - feet and legs blue grey - the cocks cere is blue.
DARK EYED CLEAR WHITE- body colour white- cheek patch silvery white- eyes BLACK/NO IRIS - tail white - wings white - spots none - the cocks cere is fleshy pink.
Now can we tell the difference between the albino,the double factor white spangle and the dark eyed clear ?
Blue series birds also include more colours-we have the greys which come in three shades light , dark and medium.
Grey factor is a colour-adding factor. If a budgie has a grey factor, the colour grey is added to the budgies original body colour.
The grey factor is very strong and overrides the underlying colour. Normal yellow-based budgies with a grey factor will be a grey green colour. Grey factor birds can also carry any of the three dark factors creating a light,medium and dark variation in colour in both the greys and greygreens.
Normal white-based budgies with a grey factor will be a grey colour.
Grey Grey Green
white base yellow base
GREY or GREYGREEN - body colour grey or greygreen - cheek patches grey - eyes black with white iris - tail black - legs and feet blue/ grey mottled - spots black.
Greygreen @ 27 days old-courtesy of Liam Mcguinness
The violet is a colour modifier that often acts in the same way as the grey,that is ,by imposing it's presence over other colours.The only visual violet is carried on a cobalt,there are some indicators that a bird is carrying the violet gene in blue series birds but often the breeding of chicks confirms this easier.The violet gene in a blue series bird creates a vibrance to the blue feathers almost like a darkening effect like the dark factor.In the green series bird it is difficule to visually see the presence of the violet factor other than the darkening effect it creates.
You cannot get a split violet they are a dominant factor. Violet can be seen in skyblue,cobalt,mauve,darkgreen and lightgreen.
Violet Greywing Violet Clearwing Violet Spangle
Violet dark green
Lutino effectively erases all colour and markings of a budgerigar, leaving only the base colour yellow.
The dark-eyed clear is actually a combination of recessive pied and clearflight pied.
When these two mutations are both present, the budgerigar has no markings or colour.
It is either pure yellow (if it is a yellow-based budgie) or pure white (if it is a white-based budgie).
Pairing two spangle green series birds together will breed double factor yellow spangles.

Lutino chicks Double factor yellow spangle Dark eyed clear yellow.
LUTINO - body colour buttercup yellow with no green or cinnamon suffusion - cheek patches silver/white - eyes plum red with white iris - tailyellowish white - wings buttercup yellow - flights yellowish white - feet and legs fleshy pink - cocks cere is fleshy pink - spots none.
DOUBLE FACTOR SPANGLE YELLOW - body colour yellow and free from green suffusion - cheek patches silvery white - eyes black with white iris - tail and wing feathers yellow- feet and legs blue/grey or fleshy pink - spots none.
DARK EYED CLEAR YELLOW - body colour yellow - cheek patches silvery white - eyes black NO iris - tail and wings yellow - feet and legs fleshy pink - spots none - cocks cere is fleshy pink.
I think we should stay with our yellows and have a look at the beautiful combinations we can produce by breeding yellow faces.
We can breed yellow faces in all the blue series birds including albinos,dark eyed clears,greys and violets in all their three depths of shades.
Green series birds can mask a yellow face character,but they can carry both yellow face and blue as a split at the same time.
Yellow Face Type 1.
Cinnamon Yellow Face Sky Blue. yellow face grey white suffussed
Yellow Face grey opaline yellow face sky blue
Yellow face sky blue Yellow face albino
YELLOW FACE - body colour as all blue series birds - face and mask buttercup yellow.
The difference between yellow face type 1 and type 11 can not be seen until the budgerigar moults into their adult plumage at approx twelve
weeks.
Adult type 11 yellow faces will show a yellow overlay on the face,wing butts and tail,they will also show a heavy blue tinting on the lower parts of their stomachs.
Yellow face type 11.
Yellow face type 11 spangle cobalt
If in doubt look under the wings butts ,a yellow face type 11 blue will have pure blue in these areas whereas with green birds it will be definitely green.
The GOLDEN FACE
The Golden Face is a far deeper yellow than the yellow face as the name suggests and produces some stunning colours.
Golden Face Violet D/F Golden Face Single Factor
As Clearwings are recessive to all other varieties except Dilute, improving their qualities as budgerigars is a lifes work.
Clearwings fall into two main groups ,whitewings are the blue series birds and yellowwings are the green series birds.
The Whitewing which is the name for blue series clearwings.
YOUNG VIOLET COBALT WHITEWINGS COURTESY OF JOHN W EVANS
clearwing sky blue clearwing violet
CLEARWINGS - body colour - As Normal - cheek patches violet - eyes black with white iris - tail blue - wing yellow or white - primaries yellowish white or white - feet and legs blue / grey mottled.
The Yellow-wing which is the name for green series clearwings..
Clearwing budgies have very light or no markings on head and wings and the body color is brightened not diluted.
a selection of yellow-wings and whitewings
Dilute or suffused as they are also called,they are in the whitewings of light and dark suffusion,the light form dilutes the body colour into a very pale shade,the dark suffusion because it has a positive body colour can be confused with a greywing.
The whites come in two different types only,the suffused and the grey white.
Both descriptions above can be applied to the white. The body colour of the suffused white may be masking skyblue,cobalt,mauve or violet in its make up.
Dilute sky blue. courtesy of lee marshall. Suffused white grey
Suffused grey white - spots pale grey - cheek patches pale blue/pale violet - body colour pale grey of a even shade and free from any blue markings - primary flight and tail feathers pale grey - feet and legs blue grey mottled - eyes black with with white iris ring - * there are light,medium and dark shades.
WHITE SUFFUSED / DILUTES - body colour - white/suffused by any of the blue shades - cheek patches pale blue/violet - eyes black with white iris - tail and wings white,bluish or light grey - feet and legs pinkish/blue grey mottled - spots pale grey.
Dilutes/suffused yellows come in light ,dark and.olive shades,they are suffused with a very dilute shade of the colour being masked, the intensity of this suffusion can vary from minimum to almost 50% of the normal body colour.
Dilute/suffused yellows - body colour yellow suffused with either light,dark or olive green - spots pale grey - cheek patches pale blue/pale violet - markings pale grey - primary flights and tail yellowish white to pale grey - feet and legs pinkish blue/grey mottled - eyes black with white iris.
A grey yellow suffused. A suffused yellow
GREY YELLOW which has a grey colour modifier present that changes the body colour to a dull mustard yellow.
Both the suffused and grey yellows have pale grey throat spots. Each of the above types of yellow are easily identifiable from the body and cheek patches colours.
There is the light yellow, which was very popular ,the last ones i seen was in Peter Hallams birdroom many years ago.
The light yellow has a buttercup yellowbody colour and was sometimes referred to as buttercup yellows rather than light yellows.
The deviation from the light yellows are the dark yellow and olive yellows which are darker in the colour intensity.Apart from their body colour,the cheek patches are silverwhite and the throat spots are absent.
The Greywings.
The greywing can be found in all the green and all the blue series colours,as the name suggests all the markings should be grey instead of the normal black,the body colour will be diluted to 50% of the normal colour.
A problem occurs where two wing densities exist the light one grey and the dark one has black colouration.

greywing grey courtesy of Mark Gulley greywing sky blue.
Greywing Mauve
GREYWINGS - body colour 50% off normal - cheek patch light violet ( in the grey series it would be light grey) - eyes black with white iris - tail tinged blue/grey - wings light grey suffused - feet and legs blue grey mottled - spots grey.

Full bodied Greywing. Greywing Sky blue
OPALINES.
Now i have introduced the opaline greywing perhaps i should point out the difference between a normal marked budgerigar and the opaline markings.

Opaline light green hen Normal light green hen --- both these birds are Cinnamons.
The opaline should have the edges of all wing feathers well defined and show the same colour as the body colour on the wings,a smudging on the wings is a fault on the show bench.The body colour runs through the stripes on the back of the neck and down through the wing feathers replacing the yellow or white of a normal.The tail feathers also have areas of the body colour running through.
The V area down the back called the saddle should be the same colour as the body without any dark markings.

See how clean the saddle is on the opaline on the left compared with the normal on the right,and the beautiful clear saddle on the opaline spangle grey.
Two super examples of the saddle of the opaline - courtesy of Mark Gulley.
Now we have mentioned cinnamons we will look at the difference between cinnamon and normal markings.
CINNAMONS.
The affect of the cinnamon factor is to change all the black feathers into cinnamon brown and to soften the main body colour by 50% of the normal colour.Eyes are black with a white iris
Eyes are black with a white iris ring but on hatching the eyes of chicks are pink.
Cinnamons - body colour 50% of normal body colour - cheek patches violet - eyes black with white iris - tail dark blue with a brown quill - wings cinnamon - feet and legs greyish pink or pinkish - spots cinnamon brown.

Cinnamon clearflight grey Cinnamon cobalt cock @ 6 weeks old.
Cinnamon light green Cinnamon light green baby courtesy of Pete Young

FALLOWS.
The Fallow is a recessive variety and appears in blue, grey and green forms, the colour being pale at the top ans progressively becoming darker,the true colour being found on the rump,all markings being a chocolate brown.
Today there are two main mutations of Fallow, the German Fallow and the English Fallow.
These two varieties are quite similar, the difference being found in the eye,where the German Fallow has an iris ring around the red eye the English Fallow has not.
German fallow with iris ring English fallow without iris
German fallow

LACEWING.The Redeyed Lacewing, a bird that has cinnamon-brown markings on head, neck, mantle and wings,and a clear body colour which can be either yellow or white.Well defined cinnamon coloured spots are also present,the feet and legs are pink and the cocks cere will be flesh coloured similar to the Inos.

Yellow and white lacewings.
SPANGLES - Spangles come in single and double factor. Double factor spangled birds are either all yellow or all white with dark eyes and an iris ring.
Single factor spangles only have their wing pattern changed by this mutation, and instead of the feather being black and edged with the ground color ( white or yellow),the feathers becomes of the ground colour and edged with black.

Spangle sky blue Double factor white spangle spangle cinnamon sky blue

Spangle cobalt opaline spangle dominant pied grey.