Aussie Finch Forum

Last year my pair of Mask finches bred 9 young from 3 nests
The last nest had two chicks that were much paler than the others.
Initially I thought they would color up once mature, but 8-9 months later they are still very pale
Top photo is the young bird and bottom photo the parents
Top photo is taken in shadow, so slightly mutes the colors, but it is still clear to see that there is a marked difference in the pigment of the legs, beak and feathers.
Both young birds look the same, and as well as pale feathers they have a thin line of white feathers around the lower half of the mask





I wonder if anyone has seen this before. I do not recall the older siblings being this pale at any stage and now they look like the parents.

My suspicion is that this is a dietary deficiency, probably to carotinoids that contribute to the red/yellow pigmentation
I think it is unlikely to be genetic, that would be long odds that all the chicks in one nest had it and none of the other 7 siblings.
Has anyone seen youngs Masks that look like this at 9 months old ?

Cheers
Brett

Very interesting Brett and no I have not seen that before.
The parents seem to have whitish in the breast area other than that they look normal.
Be interested to see how they look after a few moults though.

Look forward to the Christmas photos.

Thanks Craig and Finchbreeder
I suspected as much and that tends to add weight to my dietary theory.
All the birds get finch mix, sproated millet and green seed
No live food or vegies

I will see if I can get them to eat some pigmented foods like corn, carrot and capsicum

Cheers
Brett