Parrotlets, those wonderful Mutations.

This page is to give newcomers or long term Parrotlet keepers some idea of the different mutations or colours of Parrotlets, this page will deal with the Celestial/Pacific Parrotlet. What I have tried to do with this page is show a couple of different birds with the same mutation, so that you can see there is even a differance between individual birds

The Normal Green

The most common colour is the normal or green celestial. As you can see in this picture the Parrotlet is mostly green, but if you look closely you will see that he does indeed have lots of different colours on him. If we start at his head his face is a light green with a blue strip above his eye, his body is an olive green with a grey wash over it this changes to a light green on his belly and flank, with a light blue wash over it. Moving onto his tail this is an olive green with the grey wash over it, underneath his tail it is again a light green/yellow. The wings are the same as the body, in as they are olive green, but this changes to a bright cobalt blue on the top and bottom of the flight feathers, the edge of the wing is also cobalt blue. All the blue changes to green in the female see.... Sexing Parrotlets

Squeak

Eve

The Blue

The next most common mutation is the blue Parrotlet, again if you look at the pictures below you will see that they are not just blue. To start with their face is a sky blue and just like the normal greens they have a cobalt blue strip above their eyes. From the back of their head down their backs they are blue with a grey wash over the top, their belly is the same colour but with a lighter grey wash over it. Moving down to their tail again its the same blue colour with the grey wash over it, under the tail the colour is sky blue. The wings are the same blue with a grey wash over the top, again like the normal greens the male blues have cobalt flight feathers above and below the wing, and they also have the same cobalt blue edging to the wing. Again the female will be just blue on their wing, without the cobalt blue see sexing ....Sexing Parrotlets

Pip

Cricket

Adam

Zoe

Zoe and Grover

Remember to check out the sexing page so you understand the differences between Male and Female. Sexing Parrotlets

The Blue Pastel

The Blue Pastel as the name suggests is a pastel blue colour, as you can see below in the picture of bubble's she has an all over colour of pastel blue, the only slight variation she has is on her rump, where the blue darkens slightly, you may just about notice the different blue in the back picture of her. On the male they are also the same colour blue all over, but they have a slightly darker blue on their flight feathers and also on their rumps.

Bubbles

The Fallow

The Green Fallow is quite distinctive with its bright yellow face, again they have the cobalt blue strip above the eye which runs down to the neck. Their body and flanks are green with a strong brown/dark grey wash over the top of it, this lightens up on the upper flanks where the colour is a light green/yellow. This is the same in the tail which is green with the same dark wash over the top. Underneath their tails they are green with the same dark wash over the top. The Blue Fallow as you can see has the same brown/dark grey wash over the top of their blue colouring, the face is a totally different colour and is a powder blue changing almost white on the front of their face. Again as both of these fallows are male you can see the bright cobalt colour on their flight feathers, along the edge of their wings and on their rump. Fallows have dark red/plum coloured eyes.

Jake

Hansel

The Lutino

One of the most striking colour mutations is the Lutino, at first glance the Parrotlet looks like they are totally yellow but on closer examination there are some colour differences. The face of the Latino is a very deep yellow, the males do not have the blue line above the eyes like the normal male greens, their stripe colour is white. The yellow colour on the body is slightly less intense than the face and it covers the whole of the body, some birds may have a slight grey wash over the top of the yellow. The wings have the same characteristics as the normal green in that the colour is different for the male than the female, but instead of blue the colour difference in the male is white. Lutinos have bright red eyes.

The Lutinos

The Pied

The pied mutation comes in two basic colors, green and blue. The green pied Parrotlet has a green body with random spots of yellow, and the blue pied has a blue body with white spots. Here we will discuss the blue pied mutation.

The blue pied is a medium blue color with slightly darker blue in the face of both sexes. The body has a wash of a lighter blue with a deeper blue/aqua on the rump in the female and cobalt blue on the rump in the male. The flight feathers are mottled blue with whiter tips in the female, while the male blue pied includes the cobalt blue in this mix of colors. The amount of pied markings in each bird will vary with some being heavily pied, even reaching the head, with others sporting only a few feathers of the pied color.

Gretel

The American Yellow aka Dilute

The American Yellow mutation, also known as Dilute, has a lemon yellow face in both sexes, but the male has a streak of light blue behind the eye. The body of the male also has a wash of pale yellow from the nape of the neck down to the medium blue on the rump. The flight feathers show lighter blue or violet markings fading to yellow at the tips. The blue on the rump is surrounded by a lime green wash fading into yellow. The female is distinguished by a bright lemon yellow color covering most of the body with a faint lime green shading on the rump. The blue coloration is absent on the female. The American Yellow mutation has dark eyes.

buttercup