Possible peid sun conure?

[Nocturnal]

I've been entertaining the possibility that my sun conure, Cayenne is a peid. I have known him since he barely had a single feather at the bird store and visited him often until he weaned and I was able to take him home. To be honest, he NEVER had a ton of green on him. He had a bit of the typical greenish cast that you see on baby sun's but it was never especially significant and he never looked like most of the photos I see of baby suns. His wings already had lots of yellow on them as well.

Compared to other sun conures I see ( I work at a bird store, after all, lol! ), he has very little yellow on his wings. Also some of his flight feathers grow in clear yellow, as well as there being a yellow tip on some of his tail feathers.

This is him today--- Hatchday 10/10/07, so he is nearly 6.

See how much yellow?

And here I had to towel him to show you his partially extended wing-- he was getting frustrated. Notice the one completely clear flight feather that has grown out.

Thoughts? Do you think he really might be a pied or some sort of similar mutation?

 

[Pinkbirdy]

WOW hes beautiful [I see what you mean] I wish my sunconure had that much yellow

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Totally looks like a pied sun

 

[Nocturnal]

You really think so? Heh I have been wondering for a while.

Also, I'm not sure how well it shows up in the photos, but his beak has also been getting lighter. It's almost a brown color right up by his nares.

 

[Karigan]

He certainly looks pied to me.

 

[Nocturnal]

Oh yeah I've seen that photo . Cayenne doesn't seem to be quite as clear flighted but it does make me want to let him grow out all his flights just to better compare. He gets a bit of a big ego with flights though, haha!

I guess it just makes my little boy all that more special!!

 

[MonicaMc]

I do not quite fully understand the pied mutation in sun conures, since it does not act like the pied mutation in other species. I sometimes wonder if these pied suns are really just "high yellow" sun conures, similar to the 'red factor' suns. Not exactly a true mutation, but a trait that has been bred for over the years.

There are at least two pied mutations in Australia and North America has at least one pied mutation.... so in theory, there could be at least 3 different pied mutations in sun conures.

 

[Nocturnal]

I don't think it acts too much differently-- for instance pied cockatiels still keep their orange cheeks. I think sun conures are almost basically a "lutino" or clear bird with some coloring on the wings and tails. Check out "suncheek" green cheek conures-- they basically look like suns after all the other colors have been removed by mutations.

The clear patterns on his wings just seem so random, I don't know. But I agree there isn't much information available about pied suns and they probably aren't bred for too much just because its not especially different unless you get a completely clearflighted bird.

 

[MonicaMc]

Pied effects melanin colors, less so the psittacin colors

The only thing I can determine is that these aren't "true pieds" but "grizzle pieds", in that instead of having a perfectly clear feather, the feathers are "partially pied", and as the sun grows older, the "pied" feathers may become more yellow. Actual pied sun conures are typically born extremely yellow as well where-as normal suns are born very green. RF suns are born like normal suns with a high intensity of red, and if being combined with the pied gene, may be born with a large amount of yellow as well.


Pied sun conures are actually being bred in Canada and Australia, although I don't know how common within the USA... but I do know that someone is now trying to breed Red Factor Pieds, and this person is in Canada.

Here are the parents, a pied hen and a RF male
https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd....20x720/9386_10151647560475700_210534140_n.jpg

And the chicks... two pieds (beaks may or may not darken with age) and an RF
https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/431967_10151642372330700_1729526311_n.jpg

 

[ruffledfeathers]

wow, beautiful sun conure! love the clear yellow. i had never known there was a "pied" sun actually! I only hear of these 'fancy' colors in tiels and budgies usually. heck, you learn something new every day.....
my favorite dog marking is the piebald....hence my dog named "pinto".

 

[mews1963]

When you saw him at the bird store as a baby - did he have a "white" beak? That is a very tell-tale sign of being a pied sun. Also their feet are light in colour and not black.

 

[U2gal]

I hear many sunnies lose their green and blue colors with age. I do not know the percentage though.

 

[MonicaMc]

Speaking of the horn colored beak.... learned something new!

I wasn't aware of this, but apparently pied sun conures keep a horn colored beak for about 3-4 months in age. Around that time, the beaks start to darken and by the time they are probably around 6-8 months, maybe older, their beaks are completely black.... unlike regular suns which have black beaks before they wean!


I don't know if this applies to all pied suns or not, and I suspect it doesn't... but only because the pied gene does vary.

 

[Lyndon]

we are in Australia, and these are some of ours would love to hear back from people as seems these threads and forums are not active any more