Aussie Finch Forum

I'm not sure if anybody can help me. Mutations isn't my strong point and I don't know if it's the same in hookbills and finchs but here we go. A friend of mine is buying an albino caique. Has anybody heard of this mutation in caiques? I know the blue mutation exists so my understanding is an albino is possible. Is that correct? Also what would an albino x normal produce? 100% splits?

there will also need to be a lutino caique to produce an albino. But if it is a true albino, the resultant chicks will depend on whether is is a cock or a hen and what he pairs it to (normal or blue or lutino etc)
If you look at a genetic s chart of the Indian Ringneck or budgerigar or quaker etc it will work the same way

An albino would be a combination of a blue and a lutino

Haven't heard of lutinos in Oz but that does not mean that they are not here

One of what was described as the first (hatch date Dec '12) and thus the only blue (Blackheaded) Caiques in Oz was put up for auction early this year . . . reserve price $35K

Given that caiques do not mature for 4 or 5 years, and, if these birds were indeed 'firsts', it would be hard to imagine an albino being available . . But stranger things have happened at sea

And if a 'blue' = $35K and a 'lutino' = $X K . . . A combination would be $ K ,if it is a hen and $ K if it is a boy (and the 'lutino' is sex linked in transmission)

Has your friend seen this bird

Assuming it's sex-linked:

If a cockbird is albino (blue-lutino) and it is paired with a normal hen it will produce:
normal split blue-ino cockbirds and Lutino split blue hens

If a cockbird is normal and it is paired with an albino hen it will produce:
normal split blue-ino cockbirds and normal split blue hens

If a cockbird is normal split blue split ino and it is paired with an albino hen it will produce:
25% albino cockbirds and 25% albino hens

If a cockbird is Lutino split blue and it is paired with an albino hen it will produce:
50% albino cockbirds and hens, 50% lutino/blue cockbirds and hens

Hi Denozo

Are you sure your friend isn't buying an albino quaker rather than a caique?

If they haven't yet really established the blue, and the lutino is almost unheard of, then it is very unlikely to be an albino caique.

The genetics of either is as stated by Firetail and The Hammer (sounds like a wrestler's name ;)

Cheers

Myzo

Thanks everyone. I asked and he is sure its a black headed caique. I was worried somebody might be taking him for a ride and now I really am worried they are especially because its a hen bird

I'd be more concerned if "it" 'was' a cockbird . .

Alarm bells for mine


Asking price would a good guide but if I were paying what I think they SHOULD be asking I would be flying to see the bird

Why does everyone keep forgetting about the origin of mutations? Spontanious mutation. So this bird could exist. Highly unlikely. But so is winning lotto and it happens. Would like to see a pic. Particularly if I was the guy considering buying the bird, but then I would want to see a dozen different pics.
LML

If it’s a Spontaneous mutation as you call it, I think it could be a more risky venture as it might only be a “sport”. I would rather see what it was bred from and some kind of lineage as then I would know the mutation wasn't a one-off!

Pictures wouldn't be adequate for me if I had that amount of money to spend on a bird.

I think the word "sport" should be deleted from the genetics vocabulary

"Sports" (mutations that could not be replicated), were purely a manifestation of the lack of genetic know-how in those unenlightened days