[NymphicusHollandicus]

I was wondering this, as my male cockatiel who is about 3 or 4 seems to be growing some pearls on his wings. He is a Whiteface Pied and the pale patches seem to be growing in the all the right places. We have a female Pearl Pied, she is yellow with a red cheek, but she has grey patches on her wings and pearls. I compared the patches on my male and he seems to be gaining some.
Not sure if he had them before but I guess I'll see!

 

[Misstiel]

Would I be able to see pictures of him before and now?

 

[NymphicusHollandicus]

Would I be able to see pictures of him before and now?

I'll try and get some, my oldest one is of him as an Immature! I don't think I'll do that one though, as his plumage was quite different then.

 

[NymphicusHollandicus]

Would I be able to see pictures of him before and now?

Before

After

 

[Misstiel]

I'm so sorry, but I have no idea what that means. I have the exact same thing with my pied male. It's been annoying me for so long because he used to be plain grey on the back, and now he looks just like yours except he isn't whiteface. Maybe he's split to pearl? I've also read that the silver mutation (which I don't know much about unfortunately) has scalloped marks like that.

 

[NymphicusHollandicus]

I'm so sorry, but I have no idea what that means. I have the exact same thing with my pied male. It's been annoying me for so long because he used to be plain grey on the back, and now he looks just like yours except he isn't whiteface. Maybe he's split to pearl? I've also read that the silver mutation (which I don't know much about unfortunately) has scalloped marks like that.

Thanks! I guess he'll just look like that now. Maybe if he had chicks they would have pearl more than him because Bubble has pearls too. If he is pearl then I guess I will just see is come on, which is unlikely.

 

[Misstiel]

If you pair him with Bubble and they have pearl chicks, then that would mean that he is spit to pearl. If he was a visual pearl (which he isn't), all his female offspring would be pearls. The reason I know he isn't pearl is because he would have been very pearled when he was younger, which he wasn't. So, I'm guessing he is now showing his split to pearl, or there is some unknown mutation in him that we aren't aware of. Here's mine. I'm hoping to pair him with the cinnamon pearl in the picture so I'll hopefully know if mine is split to pearl or if the scalloped marks are something else.

 

[NymphicusHollandicus]

If you pair him with Bubble and they have pearl chicks, then that would mean that he is spit to pearl. If he was a visual pearl (which he isn't), all his female offspring would be pearls. The reason I know he isn't pearl is because he would have been very pearled when he was younger, which he wasn't. So, I'm guessing he is now showing his split to pearl, or there is some unknown mutation in him that we aren't aware of. Here's mine. I'm hoping to pair him with the cinnamon pearl in the picture so I'll hopefully know if mine is split to pearl or if the scalloped marks are something else. View attachment 96389

Awwwww! They look so cute together! Pika's blotches aren't that prominent yet, but maybe they will be!

 

[Misstiel]

Would you be able to get a picture of the outside of Pika's wings? I'll show you what I mean with mine by showing a picture of the outside of his wings. When a bird is silver, they will have dilution on their covert feathers, which mine doesn't seem to have although it's hard to tell with the pied mutation. He only has the dilution on the secondary feathers as shown.

 

[NymphicusHollandicus]

Would you be able to get a picture of the outside of Pika's wings? I'll show you what I mean with mine by showing a picture of the outside of his wings. When a bird is silver, they will have dilution on their covert feathers, which mine doesn't seem to have although it's hard to tell with the pied mutation. He only has the dilution on the secondary feathers as shown. View attachment 96390

Okay, I will try. I can't hold Pika because he bites really hard, so I'll try and get him in flight or when he hangs upside-down. Here's an older one:

 

[Misstiel]

Okay, it looks kind of like he has some dilution but unfortunately with all the white feathers, it's really hard to tell if has dilution in his covert feathers. Pieds are one of the hardest to determine because they have clear flight feathers. I'll insert some pictures that a breeder friend of mine helped out with. The first two are of my pied when he was younger. The last one is of her dominant silver cockatiel, which shows the dilution on the coverts and flight feathers. Unfortunately, the pictures are blurry for some unknown reason, but hopefully you can see what she means.

 

[gailepooh67]

Before
View attachment 96376

After
View attachment 96377

Hes a pied Whiteface no pearl he would have been all pearl looking as a baby. He's very beautiful.

 

[NymphicusHollandicus]

Hes a pied Whiteface no pearl he would have been all pearl looking as a baby. He's very beautiful.

Okay, thanks! Misstiel said that one of her cockatiels has the white patches and she says that it means split to pearl (if that's what she meant).

 

[NymphicusHollandicus]

Okay, it looks kind of like he has some dilution but unfortunately with all the white feathers, it's really hard to tell if has dilution in his covert feathers. Pieds are one of the hardest to determine because they have clear flight feathers. I'll insert some pictures that a breeder friend of mine helped out with. The first two are of my pied when he was younger. The last one is of her dominant silver cockatiel, which shows the dilution on the coverts and flight feathers. Unfortunately, the pictures are blurry for some unknown reason, but hopefully you can see what she means. View attachment 96394 View attachment 96395 View attachment 96396

Sorry for the late response, so Pika's got a dominant whiteface pied and a recessive pearl gene?? I also have a photo of Pika when he was a juvenile/immature if you might need it:

 

[Misstiel]

He might just be split to pearl. I can't remember where I read it, but I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that sometimes split to pearl males will show their ghost pearling later in life and not right away. Mine is even more scalloped now than before. I'm hoping to find out if he is split to pearl by pairing him with a pearl, but I have to wait for now since he's still immature.

 

[NymphicusHollandicus]

He might just be split to pearl. I can't remember where I read it, but I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that sometimes split to pearl males will show their ghost pearling later in life and not right away. Mine is even more scalloped now than before. I'm hoping to find out if he is split to pearl by pairing him with a pearl, but I have to wait for now since he's still immature. View attachment 96485

Thanks! I think Pika's may have got more prominent but I'm not sure. He is about 3-4, can the get them then?

 

[Misstiel]

I don't think there is a certain time they get them at so it's very likely that he's now showing his split to pearl. I forget if I asked before, but do you know his parents' mutations? Were any of them pearl?

 

[NymphicusHollandicus]

I don't think there is a certain time they get them at so it's very likely that he's now showing his split to pearl. I forget if I asked before, but do you know his parents' mutations? Were any of them pearl?

I got him from a breeder and didn't see the parents, the other cockatiels he was with were mainly whitefaces but there was one bird with a yellow face and red cheek.

 

[Misstiel]

Okay, you had him paired with a pearl hen, right? If they happen to have chicks, and if any of the chicks are pearl, then he is split to pearl. And that would probably explain why he is scalloped on his back.

 

[NymphicusHollandicus]

Okay, you had him paired with a pearl hen, right? If they happen to have chicks, and if any of the chicks are pearl, then he is split to pearl. And that would probably explain why he is scalloped on his back.

Ok, thanks! Not sure if he'll mate though, he never has, I'm worried he thinks that the bell at the end of his twirly hanging perch is his mate. He chirps and waggles his tail when on it. The two females in there with him both ask him to mate them but he never has.