What variety is my 21 week old peach faced love bird?

**Wizadora** · 07-08-2012, 06:33 AM

What variety / morph / colour is she? i was told she was a dilute pastel but i'm dubious about that. x

**maxollie** · 07-08-2012, 09:23 AM

I'm not experienced with lovebirds so I can't answer your question. But I just had to tell you how "Gorgeous" she is!! I'm sure someone will stop by and respond to your post and question in due time!

**mask** · 07-08-2012, 10:54 AM

AquaTurquoise

**Wizadora** · 07-08-2012, 11:45 AM

have been told shes a pastel Blue by the guy who bred her, but i'm not sure if that is an official colour or what exactly that means gentically, i though she did look quite like seagreen / aqua turquoise, i'm in the UK if that makes a difference? can anyone answer more in depth perhaps?

**mask** · 07-09-2012, 03:10 AM

There is no blue mutation in roseicollis (peachfaced). There are 2 par-blue mutations, aqua and turquoise. Both are allelic to the blue gene though, so when the alleles combine they produce an intermediate form; AquaTurquoise. Aqua have around 60% psittacin reduction (red/yellow pigment), they have a peachier colour to the mask. Orange-ish beak and look closer to green than blue. Turquoise have around 80-95% psittacin reduction and have a white face, sometimes with a faint peach coloured brow, and they are closer to blue than green with a clear, pink coloured beak. AquaTurquoise are generally anywhere between the 2 and have the tell-tell beak which is a 2 tone colour; lighter pink at the top going more orangey towards the bottom.

Pastel is an allele of the NSL-ino mutation (non-sex-linked ino) which is not found in peachface, only in the eyering species. Pastel also reduces around 50-70% of the eumelanin (black pigment) leaving a patchy, diluted plumage.

Dilute is quite a rare mutation, hard to breed and see's a heavy eumelanin dilution, giving a pale greeny-yellow bird, or when combined with parblue, a light yellow coloured bird.

Alot of people do use totally different names in the UK though, they are very far behind times i'm afraid. Unless the societies come forward and adapt to the international nomenclature, then this confusion and inaccuracy will only continue.

**Wizadora** · 07-09-2012, 06:58 AM

thank you, thats cleared it up very well for me, i'll call her the correct term, and hope others follow suit. x

**LOVIES4EVER** · 07-09-2012, 01:26 PM

Looks like my Petri!

**Wizadora** · 07-09-2012, 03:14 PM

further confusion now as i've been emailed by Niel at love bird society saying that she is an 'Aqua' (otherwise known as a pastel in the uk apparently) now i am confused wether she is an 'Aqua' or an 'AquaTurquiose' as they are different genetically as i understand it. x

**mask** · 07-09-2012, 04:58 PM

AquaTurquoise for sure.

This is aqua ...

Notice the beak is one colour, more yellowy-orange.

AquaTurquoise have the two-tones beak and more white in the mask.

Aqua is known as pastel in the UK, but only through their show standards. It's also called apple green, seagreen, dutch blue etc etc ... depending who you ask. Pastel is an awful name though, there absolutely nothing remotely pastel about an aqua :S

**LOVIES4EVER** · 07-11-2012, 01:42 PM

Your will turn out to look like mine, hes a seagreen.
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**Anton** · 07-12-2012, 06:04 AM

There are some posters available showing the different colour mutations, I saw them for sale at an agapornis show in Bangkok last week, almost bought one but to be honest when I compared birds to them I can't find their colour so left it behind. Maybe there are too many colours to identify on a simple chart? Or am I colour blind?