The Faded Mutation in A. fischeri

Hello to All Birdies!

I am writing about a new A. fischeri mutation called Faded. Below are some notes.

Mode of inheritance: autosomal recessive. May be non-allelic for Ino or Pastel mutation. It might even be related to the Fallow mutation. It looks like a type of albinistic mutation. Note: the term albinistic means that it affects the melanin pigment in all areas of the bird (eyes, feet, skin & feathers) in a qualitative manner. As such, this mutation tends to alter the quality of the melanin produced.

Particular characteristics of the Faded Mutation (based on the pictures, some personal correspondence and the book entitled: A Guide to Colour Mutations & Genetics in Parrots by Dr. Terry Martin BVSc): The chicks are hatched with plum-red eyes and darken quickly in a few days. It eventually acquires the normal eye of a wild-type bird as it matures. The faded mutation only slightly reduces the melanin strength, changing black areas to a dark grey-brown tone. The eumelanin reduction over the entire plumage and is most noticeable on the body. In the blue series, the effects of eumelanin reduction are more noticeable on the back of the head, giving an almost clear white head. This feature is the most obvious thing that stands out when a breeder looks at the bird, but it is not the most important feature of this mutation. There is no change in rump color (blue-violet).

After Dirk Van Den Abeele published an article in the BVA Magazine recently about this mutation, he received a notification from a Dutch lovebird breeder that since 1987 he has in his possession some faded fischeri. He has raised them in limited numbers (has only a few birds right now) and he told him that he has now specimens in the green and blue series. Moreover, there's another Dutch, a Danish, and a German lovebird breeder who sent a message to him claiming that they already have these birds in their collection since 1980. They thought that they were pastel birds, though they never realized that this was a different mutant. There was also a report of this mutation occurring in 2003 in the M. Alarza Aviary in Venezuela.

Pictures attached. With copyright restrictions, please don’t copy nor distribute them for they don’t belong to me.

Many thanks!

Tyler

https://2img.net/r/ihimg/photo/my-images/217/fadedgreen.jpg/

https://2img.net/r/ihimg/photo/my-images/200/fadedblue.jpg/