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Until now, the mutation of African Lovebirds has been of so many types. And will continue to emerge new mutations in the coming years.
When breeding African Lovebirds, you should know the basis of trait inheritance, mutation categories, and the differences between male and female lovebirds. It is fundamental and so important.
Ignorance of this will lead to phenotype chaos in African lovebirds. Even some are very difficult to understand.
For this reason, in this article, I will discuss the mutation categories that exist in African Lovebirds.
African Lovebirds Melanin Mutation Group
Melanin mutations affect melanin pigment reduction, addition, or dilution in African Lovebirds.
The effects of melanin mutations result in the appearance of the plumage becoming lighter and paler.
- NSLino
- DEC (Dark Eye Clear) Pastel
- Dilute
- Dominant Pied
- Recessive Pied
- Misty
- Pale Fallow
- Dun Fallow
- Bronze Fallow
- Pale
- Faded
- Dominant Edged
Melanin reduction can occur in all limbs or only part of them. It can only include feathers without any reduction in the legs.
In the case of Dominant Pied Mutations, reduction occurs in random crosses on their feathers.
From the data above, to produce quality chicks, do not pair birds with the same mutation category, for example:
- Pastel X Ino, why? Because you're most likely to get intermediate chicks.
- Euwing X Pied, why? The beauty of euwing and pied is focused on the shades or motifs of feathers. This often happens when we find it difficult to distinguish between pied euwing and Dominant Pied.
- Euwing X Dilute, why? Dilute is famous for its soft, even color. It is even softer than pastel. If you force it to be crossed with euwing, the tightness of the euwing motif will be reduced by the characteristics of the dilute, which tends to be soft.
Crossbreeding in fellow mutation categories is allowed as long as you know what kind of boundaries and birds the association standards ask for.
African Lovebirds Psittacine Mutation Group
Psittacine mutations affect the complete reduction of red and yellow psittacine pigments (CPR) or partial (PPR).
- Blue1
- Blue2
- Blue1blue2 (Parblue turquoise)
- Sapphire
- Yellow Face
From the data above, to produce quality chicks, do not pair birds with the same mutation category, for example:
- Blue x Turquoise is a shortcut to get Turquoise or parblue directly on its F1. Still, both of these mutations are psittacine reduction mutations, which we get when continuously crossed between them are abnormal phenotypes.
For example, like Parblue, the whole mask is cream or total orange, even though to make Parblue or Blue1blue2, the common species must have a color blocking in each strain.
Suppose Fischeri is a different orange color between the forehead and the cheeks. Indeed, this does not immediately affect F1 to F4, but it is not good if it continues to be done.
It is recommended to always cross the parblue with a split full psittacine bird, e.g., Green/blue1 or Green/Blue1blue2. That would be much nicer.
African Lovebirds Feathers Structure Mutation Group
Feather Structure Mutation is a category of mutations in African lovebirds that affect changes in barb and modula.
- Dark Factor
- Violet Factor
- Slaty
Actually, they don't directly affect melanin or psittacine. However, dilation or narrowing of the barb zone sometimes increases the melanin effect on the plumage.
The African Lovebird Feather Structure Mutation Category is unlike the mutation category above. Each mutation has its role.
Even the BVA asking for a violet show of birds should be with a combination of Blue or Green + "D" Factor + "SF" Violet or "DF" Violet.
As for Slaty, also BVA asks for a combination of Green or Blue + "D" Factor + one or two Slaty factors.African Lovebirds Pigment Distribution Mutation Group
This Pigment Distribution mutation is a mutant that affects the distribution of psittacine and melanin pigments throughout the fur of African Lovebirds.
- Opaline
Opaline can also freely be crossed with all types of existing mutations.
However, you should pay attention to the standards demanded by the association that only homozygous birds are recognized.