Aussie Finch Forum

Hi

Which Zebra mutation is this please? I've never seen it before and can't find similar photos. She's pied, of course, but what's the entirely black rear all about?

Other than the pied markings and black rump she's deep grey all over, including her belly.







Thanks

She is a charcoal or black fronted hen. Craig

And a good looking bird too.

Thanks. Those were my first thoughts, but...does that mean the photos in the book 'A Guide to Zebra Finches', my usual bible, are wrong?

That book shows these hens...

- Black-fronted = normal body colour, partial black teardrop triangle, solid black tail on top (like mine), normal cream on the belly and under the tail. I also have those in the aviary.

- Black-bodied = dark grey body and belly (like mine), normal teardrop, normal tail on top, dark grey under the tail. I don't have any of these in the aviary.

- Charcoal = dark grey body and belly (like mine), no teardrop, solid black tail on top (like mine), dark grey under the tail. I don't have any of these in the aviary.

The book shows no hens at all with black under their tail (though Black-bodied and Charcoal cocks do have this). Is this an illustration error, or do I have something unusual?

She's a stunner too. Big bird with a really lovely shape to her.

Also what's really interesting is that all of the black mutations I have in my aviary apparently arose spontaneously. I did not introduce any new birds.

The first to appear spontaneously was Black-front. Interesting, because it's supposed to be dominant, though everything has to start somewhere. Maybe, just maybe, it was hidden in a pied bird, though it didn't show itself in breeding results for over 2 years, which is odd.

Two or three generations after the first Black-front I'm seeing a variety of black mutations spreading quickly through the flock.

If that's the case she would be charcoal pied as charcoal is a recessive mutation - her parents would be both split charcoal. The other black mutations are dominant so at least one of their parents would be black to produce black (no splits).

Right.

If she's Charcoal, what do you make of the fact that she has a teardrop (actually sort of a Black-face style triangle) instead of no teardrop, and black under her tail instead of grey?

I wonder if a blend of Charcoal and Black-face could combine to create this unusual pattern ?

She also has slight black grizzling down her chest and stomach, which you can just about see in the first photo.

She has babies in the nest currently. One looks very dark. I'll enjoy seeing what emerges over the coming weeks.

I'm just saying charcoal is the only recessive one of those black mutations so if your source birds were all non-black it is the most likely. I have seen many charcoal hens with the black marking down the chest as you describe and black under the tail may not be the show standard for this form but a bird with extra black features such as one showing black down the front (which is also lacking on the standard) is likely to have extra black in other areas.

just noticed your earlier point that you also have black-fronted in the aviary

I had a box full of charcoals sent down from Newcastle many years ago and all of the hens showed those characteristics but not pied,infact peering through the fly wire i thought i had a box full of beautifuls. Craig