FINCHforum

Any genetic fundi's out there know what mutation this would be? Lutino?
They are wild white eye's that visited my garden.

I'd guess that it's fawn/cinnamon.

monotwine

Don't know what they are, but if you can grab a couple and box them up, I'll send you my address.

They are beautiful little birds.

Beautiful birds! I love the white-eyes, but that one definitely must be a mutation of some sort.

It's fawn.
Lutino birds have red eyes.

@lovezebs
I love them, have several species.
They are among the most charming birds with lovely social behaviour, and surprisingly hardy omnivores despite their fragile, petite appearence!
Being local birds, they cost a pittance here - $2-8 each.

@Sally
You said there were many sotbills at the show - any white-eyes?

w.l. They are Cape White-eyes, and here you only find them in the Western Cape in South Africa. You say that you have Cape White-eyes wild in Indonesia?

The Cape white-eye is a small passerine bird in the white-eye family. It is native to southern Africa. Wikipedia
Scientific name: Zosterops virens
Higher classification: Lesser white-eyes

MariusStegmann

I just looked them up Marius.
The images match the darker bird in the photos, but not the pale yellow and white one. Is that one a diiferent colour mutation of the same species?

w.l.

They look lovely.
I never realized there were so many different White Eyes all around the world.

I have never seen any around here, so I couldn't tell you what the price would be. Wow $2-$8....
Do you have bird markets over there that you go to, or are they sold by individual breeders?

With prices like those, I would be a hopeless mess over there

Hi. Yes this is definitely a sport or random mutation in wild stock without interference. Thought it must be something like green backed Gould's and yellow mutation.

I hand rear youngsters rescued and then rehabilitated and release. They are fabulous birds can get super tame and love tickles. Here we can get Oriental white eye'sfor aviary but trade in native species isn't common, that I know of.

First time in 30 years I've ever seen this mutation in White-eye.

monotwine

You know, I've done a bit of a search on the internet, and didn't see any like this one in any of the many species and sub species that I looked at.

I also noticed that the beak is pink on this individual bird, which is also interesting.

Was there only one like that in your garden, with the rest being normal colours?

w.l. Yes, there was one white-eye. I think I took a photo of it, really need to get my pictures off my phone and into my computer so I can post them. Tomorrow is supposed to be really cold here, so a good day to stay in and get caught up.

Marius, of course there are no Cape white-eyes in Indonesia.
However, there are some 40 species of white-eyes native to the country anyway.
Out of those, fewer than 10 are readily available on the markets.

And yes lovezebs, there are lots of bird markets on Java, where keeping songbirds is very popular, though far less so on other islands.
White-eyes are popular and some species are sold in huge numbers.
They are virtually all wild-caught. They are so cheap that few people bother trying to breed them, which is not easy anyway.

w.l.

So soooo many birds.....
I'd be walking around like this my wallet clutched in my sweaty little hands, and, a wagon full of cages dragging behind me, and you'd never get me out of there

Mind you, these bird markets are not for tender souls...
Western concepts of animal wellfare are unknown here, and conditions on the markets can be pretty awful, as my pics also suggest.
But there is certainly much to choose from, and mostly at modest prices.
Including species almost unknown in the West - though mostly softbills rather than finches.

w.l.

Funny you mentioned that, as I just had similar thoughts looking at your thread about the Nuns.

Conditions appear to be quite deplorable really.