FINCHforum

I bought a starfinch male today and plan to buy a yellow female at a different petstore. As far as I can remember, the red and yellows starfinches are the same species and can be cross-bred. Am I right in saying that the yellow starfinch is a mutation of the red, which is the original? I like the idea of breeding a red with a red because they would be unrelated. The off-spring would then be red I suppose.

The YF is a mutation and they are more expensive, as many people like the mutation. If you breed a RF with a YF, you get more of an orange color, but like all genetics, there can be a mix in the young.

I have had both Red-faced and Yellow-faced Stars, and yes, the yellow is a mutation of the red. If you breed red to red, you will get all red unless there is a male split in there. That is how I got my first yellow. Red x red had produced nothing but red, and then one clutch, there was one yellow. This is a sex-linked gene, so males can be red yet carry the yellow gene--hens are all or nothing, red or yellow, they cannot be split.

If you breed a red male to a yellow hen, you will get red/split to yellow males and red hens. If you breed a yellow male to a red hen, you will get red/split to yellow males and yellow hens.

Sally wrote:I have had both Red-faced and Yellow-faced Stars, and yes, the yellow is a mutation of the red. If you breed red to red, you will get all red unless there is a male split in there. That is how I got my first yellow. Red x red had produced nothing but red, and then one clutch, there was one yellow. This is a sex-linked gene, so males can be red yet carry the yellow gene--hens are all or nothing, red or yellow, they cannot be split.

If you breed a red male to a yellow hen, you will get red/split to yellow males and red hens. If you breed a yellow male to a red hen, you will get red/split to yellow males and yellow hens.

This is science!!! Thanks for info ! this will help me too!