Budgies, or budgerigars, are among the most popular pet parakeets, often leading to confusion between the two. In fact, “common parakeet” is frequently used as an alternate name for the budgie. However, it’s important to note that there are over 100 other parakeet species, such as the rosellas, monk parakeets, and lineolated parakeets.
In the wild, budgies sport greenish-yellow plumage with distinctive black markings around their faces. Thanks to years of selective breeding, these charming birds now come in a variety of colors and patterns, including stripes, pied variations, and clear body mutations.
Primary Mutations Leading to Various Budgie Colors
While there can be over a hundred color combinations in budgies, they all come from a series of primary mutations. These combine to form secondary mutations, which affect the overall appearance of the bird. For example, if a budgie has both the Blue 1 and Cinnamon primary mutations, it is most likely to have blue plumage (Blue 1) combined with a paler appearance and red eyes (Cinnamon).
| Primary Mutation | Appearance |
|---|---|
| Color Affects Coloration | |
| Blue 1 | Light to medium blue body color, with a white face |
| Blue 2 | Dark blue body color |
| Blue 1-Blue 2 | Gradient of blue from light to dark |
| Yellowface | Yellow face, that can contrast with the rest of the colors of the body |
| Goldenface | Bright yellow face |
| Structural Affects Shading and Coloration | |
| Dark | Darker shades of the normal color |
| Crest-Factor (C-F) | Crest on head |
| Dominant Gray | Gradient gray color from light to dark |
| Anthracite | Very dark gray to black plumage |
| English Gray | Solid gray or silver body color |
| Recessive Gray & Graygreen | Gray or gray-green body color |
| Slate | Slate gray body color, with a unique grayish-blue hue |
| Violet | Violet or purple hue |
| Leucism Removes Melanin From Feathers | |
| ADMpied (Recessive Pied) | Irregular patches of clear and normal color, with minimal body markings and clear wings and tail |
| Piebald (Australian Pied) | Irregular patches of clear and colored areas, with distinct head and body markings |
| Piednape | Pied pattern focused around the nape and neck area |
| Clear-Pied | Large patches of clear areas like wings and tail |
| Spangle-Factor (Sp) | Unique feather pattern with edged markings |
| Saddlebacked (SB) | Saddle-like marking on the back, often distinct from the rest of the body |
| Dilution Reduces Melanin From Feathers | |
| Dilute | Very pale or washed-out body color |
| Clearwing (CW) | Body color with very light or clear wing markings |
| Graywing (GW) | Gray wing markings, with a pale or muted body color |
| Graywing-Clearwing | Combination of gray and clear wing markings |
| Melanism Increases Melanin in Feathers | |
| Blackfaced (BF) | Black mask around the face, with darker body plumage and black markings. |
| Albinism Removes Melanin From Body Tissues | |
| Cinnamon | Brownish body color, with red eyes |
| Ino | Albino (white with red eyes) or Lutino (yellow with red eyes) |
| Cinnamon-Ino | Light, soft coloration with minimal markings |
| NSLino | Like Ino but with varying degrees of body markings |
| Bronzefallow | Brownish-bronze body color, with red eyes and soft and muted tones |
| Brown &/or Sepia | Warm brown tones, with soft sepia coloring and reduced markings |
| Faded | Soft, muted colors |
| Palefallow | Pale, washed-out colors, often with red eyes |
| Dunfallow | Light brown to tan body color, with red eyes and softened markings |
| Scottish Fallow | Pale brown body color, with red eyes and very soft and muted tones |
| Sex-linked Clearbody | Clear body with normal colored head and wings |
| Modifier Adds Specific Effects | |
| Dark Winged (DW) | Darkened wing markings |
| Pigment Re-distributing Induces Changes in Color | |
| Dominant Clearbody | Clear body with normal colored wings and head |
| Opaline | Lighter markings on the back and head |
Between the variety in colors and patterns, combined with how easy they are to handle and take care of, it is no surprise why budgies are the 3rd most popular pets after dogs and cats.
FAQs
Some of the rarest budgie mutations are the Hagoromo or Japanese-crested (Crest-Factor), Texas Clearbody (Sex-linked Clearbody), Ino-Blue (Ino x Blue), and Rainbow (Opaline x Yellowface x Clearbody).
