Post by Casey on Apr 26, 2011 4:58:05 GMT -8
Pearl Cockatiels
What is a pearl cockatiel? A pearl cockatiel will have a scalloped or spotted pattern to the plumage. The pearls can be white to yellow and this mutation can be combined with other mutations (example, whiteface cinnamon pearl, pied pearl, lutino pearl, etc).
This mutation is sex-linked, meaning if the father carries the pearl gene whether he is split pearl or was a visual pearl his daughters will be visual pearls so long as the mother isn't a pearl. If the mother is a pearl and the father is a pearl you will get pearls of both genders.
Males lose the pearls around their first molt. Pearl pieds may take a few molts to molt out all of the pearls. Later on, the male may have the shadowing of pearls on his back. Females keep the pearls for life. Males will look like a normal grey after they molt. How do you tell if your male was ever a pearl? Check the tail feathers. Look near the base of his tail, if he has yellow streaking or mottling, he was a visual pearl. If he doesn't have the mottling but he has the faded pearls on his back he is split pearl.
Females can ONLY be visual pearls. They can not be split pearl. Interestingly, in some unusual cases females lose some of the pearls or are born with incomplete pearls. In the extreme cases, they may only have one pearl on their body. They are still a pearl.
Photo Examples of Pearl Cockatiels
Male Cinnamon Pearl Pied
Female Whiteface Pearl, unusual as she is missing most of her pearls. She is 3 years old
Male Cinnamon Pearl Pied, losing the pearls
Regular Pearl
"Loose Feather" Pearl
Adult Male Pearl with nearly all pearls lost
Notice the yellow mottling on the tail feathers
What is a pearl cockatiel? A pearl cockatiel will have a scalloped or spotted pattern to the plumage. The pearls can be white to yellow and this mutation can be combined with other mutations (example, whiteface cinnamon pearl, pied pearl, lutino pearl, etc).
This mutation is sex-linked, meaning if the father carries the pearl gene whether he is split pearl or was a visual pearl his daughters will be visual pearls so long as the mother isn't a pearl. If the mother is a pearl and the father is a pearl you will get pearls of both genders.
Males lose the pearls around their first molt. Pearl pieds may take a few molts to molt out all of the pearls. Later on, the male may have the shadowing of pearls on his back. Females keep the pearls for life. Males will look like a normal grey after they molt. How do you tell if your male was ever a pearl? Check the tail feathers. Look near the base of his tail, if he has yellow streaking or mottling, he was a visual pearl. If he doesn't have the mottling but he has the faded pearls on his back he is split pearl.
Females can ONLY be visual pearls. They can not be split pearl. Interestingly, in some unusual cases females lose some of the pearls or are born with incomplete pearls. In the extreme cases, they may only have one pearl on their body. They are still a pearl.
Photo Examples of Pearl Cockatiels
Male Cinnamon Pearl Pied
Female Whiteface Pearl, unusual as she is missing most of her pearls. She is 3 years old
Male Cinnamon Pearl Pied, losing the pearls
Regular Pearl
"Loose Feather" Pearl
Adult Male Pearl with nearly all pearls lost
Notice the yellow mottling on the tail feathers
