ight colored
feet and beak.
To obtain a Recessive mutation baby both parents must have the mutation either visually or split. Hens
can be split to a Recessive mutation. Hens cannot be split to a sex-linked mutation. For example to produce Whiteface
offspring each parent must at a minimum be split to Whiteface. If one parent contains no Whiteface genes roughly have
the offspring will be split to Whiteface but none will visually show it.
Pieds are basically when the standard body colors are replaced with Yellow or White in varying degrees. When
Pieds are judged the degree of symmetry and clarity of markings is important. Ideally, a desirable pied will carry
a clear mask, free from extraneous grey or cinnamon feathers or bleeding from the orange cheek patch, clear tail and wing
flights and a perfect balance of markings. A pied with dark feathers in the face is called a dirty faced pied.
Pieds are also known to have thicker feathering over the body also. Pied occurs because the levels of melanin are different
over the feathers of the bird. It has also been noted that Pieds have a thicker set of feathers which is noticeable in young
birds as they feather up.
Pieds appear in three ways:
The Light Pied is where most of the bird will be Grey or Cinnamon but some areas of the body are yellow,
or white for Whiteface Pieds.
The Heavy Pied is mostly a Yellow or White bird with Grey or Cinnamon still seen on some of the chest
and back. The nicest are when the chest and face are clear of the darker colors. Some people also call cockatiels with
very little Grey or Cinnamon a Reverse Pied.
The Clear Pied looks much like the Lutino but has dark or normally colored eyes and feet. You
may see one or two dark feathers on the back. These can be easily confused with Lutinos and are not as common.
They have the advantage of not having the bald spot that has occurs with Lutinos.
Charcoal grey in color, lacking the orange cheek patch and yellow pigment. The whiteface is lacks all
lipochrome pigments. Mature adult males will carry a white face as opposed to the yellow mask worn by other varieties.
Some of the nicest combinations are the Whiteface Pearl, Whiteface Cinnamon Pearl, Whiteface Pieds and Whiteface Cinnamon
A brownish (or light cinnamon) appearance resembling the cinnamon, but with a more pronounced yellow suffusion
and red eyes due to less melanin. The Fallow cockatiel has a very similar coloration to that of the Cinnamon cockatiel, but
with a slightly diluted depth of color. The fallow has red eyes, a pink beak, and pink feet.
Pastel is a rather subtle mutation that is rather appropriately named. The pastel mutation can be combined
with just about any other mutation with some beautiful results. Pastel cockatiels look just like their normal counterpart,
but the yellows, oranges, browns and grays are softened a bit. Hence the name, pastel. The most obvious difference is
the orange cheek patch becomes a yellow-orange.
It is also called Olive, Spangled or Suffused Yellow. This mutation is hard to describe and has to be
seen. The term Emerald or Olive is a bit misleading though. Cockatiels do not carry any green pigmentation, so
they can't really be green. The combinations of yellow and greys along with the right lighting make these birds sometimes
look green. It can best be described as a mottled or combination of small areas with different colors varying from yellows
The Recessive Silver mutation is a diluted or silvery grey version of the normal grey. The Silver has red
eyes, a pink beak, and pink feet. Male Silver cockatiels often have a very deep yellow face and bright orange Cheek Patches
at maturity. Female Silver cockatiels will retain their immature coloration and the barring of the underside of the
Dominant mutations are unique in that it requires only one of the parents to produce the mutation in their
offspring. For example if you have a Dominant Yellow Cheek hen you will get a percentage of either male and/or female
Dominant Yellow Cheek babies. For Sex-linked Yellow Cheek you must have Sex-Linked Yellow Cheek in both the male