Yellow Headed Gouldians

[Brisbane Breeder]

scarlets 2002.jpg

Over the years I've kept and bred natural colouring Gouldians a couple of times and am thinking of getting a few pairs because they are such a delightful bird. Back in the day I would run two pair of gouldians with a pair of neophemas in large conventional avaiaries, usually yellow headed birds bought because I thought they were good quality. While the pairs bred yellow faced offspring, a lot of the offspring were red headed. Will I always get a mixture of head colours from natural birds. Does the colouring of the beak tint have any bearing on the genetic output of the parents or is that a myth?

[branchez]

That's a nice looking pair of Scarlets you have there.
Jack

[Tiaris]

It should be impossible to get a yellow-headed with a red-tipped beak. Also when head colour on hens is not clean and bright, there are many cases where a red-headed and yellow-headed hens are misidentified.

[Tiaris]

I like the scarlets too. They look just like a pair my son has at the moment with 5 young in the nest.

[Lachlan1]

I find this handy http://www.gouldianfinches.eu/en/geneti ... a/english/

[Brisbane Breeder]

Scarlets2014.jpg

The photo was taken over a decade ago. The scarlets looked pure but kept throwing up mutation young so I sold them off. I have restarted breeding scarlets this year having obtained absolutely (the photo is of one of my new pairs just colouring up) natural stock from a breeder who has never allowed mutation birds into his flock and has held them since the 1980s. Hopefully I will be able to breed some genetically pure birds from them I have high hopes as the source aviaries had about a dozen pairs with over 50 young none of which displayed any visible mutation colouring. I hope to be able to source genetically pure gouldians and possibly some natural diamonds and breed them true. All of the diamonds I've seen advertised have been mutations, hopefully there are breeders who value the true natural colouring of the birds out there.

[KENTUCKY]

Hello Brisbane Breeder,
Genetically it is not possible to breed red heads from yellow heads, what you have got in your aviary are orange heads,
the gene responsible for producing red is defective and can only produce yellow, hence our yellow heads.
I held the view for some time that this defective gene is starting to slowly become normal again, because it releases small amounts of red, which interacts with yellow
and turns yellow several shades darker into a orange head colour.
with selective breeding and patience it would be quiet possible to breed redheads from orange heads by pairing up the darkest shades of orange heads season after season,
I am certain that red heads are lurking just beneath the surface.
Murray believed that red and yellow are equal strength colour factors, that red heads will eventually reappear may not all be that far fetched.

[Brisbane Breeder]

Hello Brisbane Breeder,
Genetically it is not possible to breed red heads from yellow heads, what you have got in your aviary are orange heads,
the gene responsible for producing red is defective and can only produce yellow, hence our yellow heads.

How do I pick yellow heads from orange heads or is this just an issue I will have to live with. Back in the day I would just see a nice yellow headed bird and buy it, they were common enough, then buy a mate or two and set and forget. Problem was many, not all, of the offspring were as you describe 'orange' heads. I just like the colouring of the yellows more than the (still beautiful) blacks and reds and am hoping to get two pairs to share one of my neophema 3.6m flights with a pair or two of diamonds and maybe white bellied crimsons sharing other flights with other pairs of neophemas. I am lucky enough to have seen gouldians in the wild in Arnhem land in the 1980s in the hundreds (last sighting in 2010 in the twos and threes) and am aware that the majority of wild gouldians are black headed, with a few reds and rarely yellow heads.

[KENTUCKY]

There are two options open to you Brisbane Breeder,if you like OHs keep going, or
cull your orange heads, and replace with YHs, if OHs crop up down the track, keep on culling
as for telling them apart, the tip of the beak of a YH is a nice bright yellow, by comparison, OHs will show a slightly orange/reddish tip, it is distinct
if crossing OHs with YHs, the off spring from this pairing will mostly,not all be OHs because OH dominantes YHs
it is inevitable that RHs will appear, its just a matter of time
view it this way, credit cards are the forrunners of a cashless society
OHs are the forrunners of RHs in the not so distant future.
It does not matter what your choice, enjoy your hobby, its very rewarding.

[Brisbane Breeder]

I'll start hunting for some yellow heads with yellow tipped beaks. I currently have no finches, just thinking about getting a few now I've got a few pairs of natural neophemas again. I'm loving getting back into traditional Aussies after decades breeding foreign parrots and PNG lories. The finches are just part of my plan to return to basics.