Cockatiel Mutation: PIED

The pied cockatiel has an irregular color pattern in comparison to the normal gray. The ratio and distribution of the colors defines if it is a Light pied, Heavy Pied or Clear pied.

Light Pied. The dark and gray hues dominate the yellow shades in the body. A gray cockatiel with some white markings at the back of the forehead is considered a "light pied".

Heavy Pied. This is a more favored mutation since the yellow color is proportionally more distributed than the gray, a specific balance of pattern is what breeders usually look for. The yellow will be replaced by white plumage if the bird is a white face.

Clear Pied. The absence of all the gray colors doesn't necessarily mean the bird is a lutino. A pied bird with no gray or dark color is called a clear pied. Dark eyes will reveal this phenomenon unlike the lutino which has red or pink. The entire bird will also be white if it is a whiteface mutation.

The Pied mutation is a recessive gene, if bred with a pure normal gray will produce one hundred percent (100%) normal gray chicks.

Mutations: The "Albino"

The Albino Cockatiel is a misnomer, it doesn't exist. Rather, it is a combination of two mutations, the lutino and the whiteface. The combination resulted in a bird with no dark/gray plumage and no cheekpatch, creating the "albino" cockatiel. Due to this mix of two mutations, the albino cockatiel is priced above the normal or average mutation. The whiteface removes all the white in the bird, the lutino mutation removes all of the gray/black coloration, you end up with a white bird. The genetically correct name for it would be a "Whiteface lutino". The Whiteface Lutino or "Albino" cannot be visually sexed.