Aussie Finch Forum

Got this guy pictured starting to colour up on his head. But colour has me stumped. Was expecting red or black...

This bird colour head look like it grey am I right or not in the pic.

Yeah its a grey blue colour

pastel maybe?

Hi finchy85 this gouldian finch is sf yellow back,if you have a look at his colour in the back he is dilute version that can’t produce black in colour and that why you get a grey version which yellow block black and turn into grey,I hope this will help to understand the colour.

Ahhhh thankyou Mr Tino!

Mr Tino wrote: 08 Dec 2017, 21:00 Hi finchy85 this gouldian finch is sf yellow back,if you have a look at his colour in the back he is dilute version that can’t produce black in colour and that why you get a grey version which yellow block black and turn into grey,I hope this will help to understand the colour.

Strange things...just a question when they are yellow head split black head (yellow tipped beak) why doesnt yellow turn those black heads grey?

Hi VP6,

There is no such thing as a yellow split black headed Gouldian.

A yellow tipped beak/black headed bird is actually a black headed bird with 2 yellow head genes, just as a yellow headed bird is a red headed bird with 2 yellow genes.
A black headed bird split yellow(1yellow gene) will appear black, a red headed bird split yellow(1 yellow gene)will appear red.

To answer your question,
It is the back colour not the head colour that infuences the black on gouldians.
I don't know why this is, maybe the yellow head is not really a yellow but actually an orange ?

Hi VP6,

After a discussion with another forum member I will clarify my answer slightly.

You can get a yellow headed bird which is split for black (technically it is a RH split BH which has 2 yellow genes) the 2 yellow genes act on the dominant red colour creating a yellow head.

In my original answer I was pointing out that a YTB bird is a BH with 2 yellow genes, not a yellow head split for black.

You can get Yellow split to black in males only as black is sex-linked recessive (so no female splits). These will have a red-tipped bill exactly the same as a pure black.
A yellow-billed black is actually a yellow and a black both occurring simultaneously in the same bird. In these, the darker black head colour totally masks any yellow on the head.