Cockatiels are psittaformes (parrots) native to Australia.
These avians have the intellect of a two year old human
child at adulthood! Funny, quirky, intelligent and full of character!
They make for perfect companions, especially with their long lifespans,
they can live up to 35 years! Cockatiels can come in quite the variety of colours
and patterns! In this page, we will explore the following variations:
Grey | Pied | Whiteface | Lutino | Cinnamon | Pearl | Albino
The first colour of its kind, it all started with the standard grey. This is the colour you would see in wild cockatiels. The first captive breeding of the grey cockatiel started in France in the 1850's and took roughly 100 years for the following colour mutations to develop. Distinctive features of the standard grey is the mostly grey feathers and orange cheek patches.
Female and young males will have a 'barring' of the feathers underneath the tails. The males will out-grow this upon reaching adulthood. Females will have additional 'eggspot' design on their wing feathers. This applies to all mutations.
The first mutation established in USA in 1951. Pied Cockatiels have mostly grey or light yellow feathers with orange cheeks. They will often have blotches of colour randomly dispersed on their bodies and white on their feathers.
There are two types of pied cockatiels, 'heavy' and 'light' pieds. Light pieds have roughly 10% of their feathers in aa different colour. Heavy pieds have up to 75% colour variation. Pied mutations can be inhrited alongside any other colour mutation, and its name simply changes. (e.g. whitefaced pied)
The whitefaced mutation was the seventh cockatiel colour variation to be discovered or selectively bred in Holland in 1964. These pretty cockatiels have no colour other than grey and white on their bodies and, as its namesake, a white face with no colour patches on their cheeks.
These mutations are often harder to find than its fellow coloured mutations and usually quite rare!
One of the most popular variations! This mutation was first discovered in USA in 1958 and is the second mutation after the pied! They're characterised by their white to yellow feathers, bright orange cheeks and bright red eyes when reflected in sunlight.
Due to the recessiveness of the genes of this variation, they have quite delicate eyesight in comparison to other mutations, and should avoid direct sunlight for extended periods of time. They may also be more near-sighted compared to their fellow tiels.
The cinnamon variation was discovered in Germany in 1967/1968 and is characterised by its slightly more pastel/muted colours, with greys appearing more light brown and other variation colours appearing less saturated. A rare and coveted variation, it is not natural to its origin habitat and therefore not found in the wild!
A cinnamon cockatiel, like the lutino, has recessive genes which contribute to its distinct colour, however doesn't extend to its eyes, which are usually brown in colour.
The pearled cockatiel was found around the same time as the cinnamon variation, in Germany in 1967/1968. The pearl cockatiel has distinctive white or yellow 'pearling' or patterns over its body.
The pearl cockatiel variation is found in the young of this mutation, however, upon reaching adulthood, the adult male will lose most of this pearling except for a few patches, in comparison to the adult female, who will keep this pattern their whole life.
Albino cockatiels, otherwise known as 'blue' cockatiels, are cockatiels with albino coloration, albeit not inheriting true albinism. Their feathers and even eyelashes are white in colour, and much like the lutino, have red eyes which are sensitive to sunlight.
Much like most unique cockatiel colour variations, this mutation cannot be found in the wild and was selectively bred from a whitefaced cockatiel and a lutino cockatiel.