llowish tinge to the feathers. The Grey color in a Normal is produced
by the melanin pigment which is reduced in the Cinnamon. Some hens may have more yellow, lipochrome pigment, on the face than
their Normal Grey counterparts.
The male Cinnamon Cockatiel develops a bright yellow face (also know as the mask) and
bright orange cheek patches after it's first molt. Young and female Cinnamon cockatiels retain their dull orange cheek patches,
their faces do not turn yellow, and they have white or yellow barring on the underside of their tails.
The Pearling are lacings or pearl spots of Yellow or White on the backs, nape, and wings. Yellow Pearls are
sometimes called Golden Pearls. White pearling is sometimes called Silver Pearl. Pearling in a Whiteface is always white.
The lacings should be extensive and consistent. Small yellow or white marks may be on the breast of heavier marked pearls.
Typically adult pearl males lose their Pearling after the first molt due to hormonal changes as they mature. There are
some who retain some degree of pearling though. A mature male sometimes has very light colored pearling on the grey or cinnamon
Yellow Cheek is one of the newer mutations and is unique in that there are Sex-Linked and Dominant versions
of this mutation. Where a Normal Grey has an Orange cheek patch, the cheek patch of the Yellow Cheek is Yellow. The
cheek patch of the Dominant Yellow Cheek seems to be a little more orange than the Sex-Linked version. When breeding
Yellow Cheeks it is important to never breed Dominant with Sex-Linked. It would take years of test breeding to determine what
the offspring really are. It is also not recommended to breed Yellow Cheeks with Whiteface.
The Platinum is seen in Australia. In general it is a light, smoky grey back, flights and tail, with flights
sometimes almost a grey - brown color with an off white colored chest. Flights and tails are typically always a darker
color to other feathers. The underside of tail feathers in mature cocks is usually a brown or chocolate color with light 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