Gouldians

[akidsgal]

Ok here is the scoop. I have moved. Just before my move I had mom and pop Gould that had 4 offspring. 3 of which didn't make it. However....... the one that did is really confusing me. Mom is
BH WB BB and dad is Dilute RH PB GB. This young Gould that made it looks to be a male with a BB. Is that possible? I know its a male as I caught him doing a start of a happy dance today. Talk about shock. I thought since it was a BB that it was another female.... little did I know.

Now mom and dad have 4 more eggs hatching. One looks to be a yellow. Is this even possible?

How is a bird considered a dilute? Is it a SF yellow? How does blue fit into this program? I am trying to understand, but there seems to be many color combo's for these 2 mates.

Thanks in advance....

[newlinta]

I'm sure Tiffany will chime in and give you much more in depth details, but...

Yes, dilute means he is a single factor yellow...he carries genes for green and yellow body, so the babies could include yellow hens... (Possibly single factor yellow males, also, IF your dilute is split for white breast.)

Since one of the babies IS blue, then your dilute must be "split to blue" as well... meaning he carries the blue gene but doesn't show it.Babies need to get the blue gene from Both parents...That's how you ended up with a blue baby.

I'm mostly just talking about body colors. Breast color can make a difference in what the body color is as well...that's something Tiffany is the expert at explaining.

Hope this helps a little...

[nixity]

I think Tim pretty much summed it up

Are you sure the baby is actually blue?
It is possible, as he said, if your male is /Blue.
And yes - in which case, if he is, you could get both Blue Males and Females.
You could also get Pastel Blue males and Silver hens ;)

[akidsgal]

He does have blue on his upper back below his shoulders.

Unsure if he will be pastel or regular but either is welcome for me.

On the next note. Mom and dad have 2 more hatchlings. When you talk of the nodule, what part of the bird is that? I am looking for clues on the next bunch of babies I will have. Time will tell of course, but I will keep this pair as they are good parents and seem attentive to the young. They raised their babies without a hitch.

One of the new ones looks to be yellow or silver this is why I ask about the nodule. There is really no telling I just thought when I check nests again I will look for what you are talking of...

[nixity]

On the next note. Mom and dad have 2 more hatchlings. When you talk of the nodule, what part of the bird is that? I am looking for clues on the next bunch of babies I will have. Time will tell of course, but I will keep this pair as they are good parents and seem attentive to the young. They raised their babies without a hitch.

One of the new ones looks to be yellow or silver this is why I ask about the nodule. There is really no telling I just thought when I check nests again I will look for what you are talking of...

When talking about the nodule color I am referring to the middle nodule when the mouth is gaping/open when the bird is begging.
99% of the time (with apparently two exceptions that I have seen photographic evidence of!) the middle nodule on a genetically blue bird will be white.

This picture shows the difference between the nodules on a Silver and a Yellow/Blue

Particularly with Silver Vs. Yellow you can also look at the skin, and the outer nodules as well.
This picture shows three yellow/blues and one silver - you can see the difference in the skin color, and if you look at the outer nodules, the silver baby's are much lighter/more pastel looking, whereas the yellow babies still have the darker outline around the outer nodules.