Bouvreuil Ponceau – Perlé

Description:

The pearl mutation first appeared around fourteen years ago. Whilst the first pastel specimen was a female, the first pearl specimen was, contrary to expectations, a male. It should be noted that many mutant specimens are females when the strains are first established. The pearl colour is an autosomal recessive trait.
As the pearl mutation is autosomal recessive, pearl-coloured young can only be produced if both breeding birds carry the pearl factor in their genetic makeup (or genotype).
In a curious twist of nature, a male bullfinch was therefore born pearl-coloured. For information, the first jay with the opal mutation (an autosomal recessive factor) was a female.
Description of mutated males and females:
These birds do not exhibit a dilution of the plumage as seen in the pastel mutation, but rather a greyish dusting over all the flight feathers and tail feathers (wings and tail) as well as on the wing coverts.
The beak and legs are horn-coloured.

The photograph linked to this page shows a pearl-coloured male and gives a good idea of this mutation.
In the nest, young pearl-coloured mutants are recognisable as they are paler than normal young birds.
Fixing this mutation is more difficult as it requires the breeder to obtain two pearl-coloured birds or pearl carriers in order to continue breeding pearl-coloured birds.
I had the opportunity to see a female specimen in which the pastel and pearl factors were combined. Interestingly, the wings, tail and crown were entirely diluted. The rest of the plumage was diluted, as in the pastel variety. The beak was horn-coloured.

Gallery