Color Mutation Terms 

Allele - Copy of a gene that may be exactly the same or a slightly different version. Alleles may be dominant or recessive.

Color Mutation - A genetically altered bird which results in abnormal feather color. 

Combination Mutation ­– This involves combining two different color mutations to produce a new color. Albino and American “white” are two examples of combination mutations. With parrotlet genes being recessive, it takes at least two generations (creating double-splits and then breeding to unrelated double splits) to create a combination mutation. 

Dominant Mutation or Autosomal Dominant Inheritance
 – Influences the phenotype even if it is present in only one copy of the allele. In other words, the gene is said to be dominant when only one parent passed on the genetic trait to produce visual offspring.  

Double Split - A “double split” is a parrotlet that carries two color genes.   

Genotype - The genes of an organism. Refers to the an individual's genetic make up

Heterozygous - Hybrid or combination genotype which means having two different alleles for a single trait.

Homozygous - Pure genotype that has the same allele on both of its homologous chromosomes.

Inbreeding – Breeding closely related birds such as father-daughter, sister-brother and mother-son. 

Line Breeding – Breeding related birds such as grandfather-granddaughter, grandmother-grandson and cousins.  

Outcrossing – Breeding a mutation to a normal green wild-type Pacific.    

Phenotype - The physical appearance of a trait in an organism. Refers to the traits or features that an individual displays.

Primary Mutation – A “primary mutation” is a single factor color mutation and include blue, yellow, pastel, fallow, cinnamon and lutino. 

Recessive Mutation or Autosomal Recessive Inheritance – Influences the phenotype when present in both copies one copies of the allele In other words, needs both parents carrying the same genetic trait in order to pass it on and produce visual offspring. 

Sex-Linked Mutation – A genetic trait carried by a chromosome that determines the animal's sex. Males have two chromosomes which are the same "ZZ" while females have a different pairing of "Zw". This is opposite from mammal genetics. For a female to be produced the male parent must be at least split for the mutation. Females cannot be split for sex-linked mutations, only the males. Recessive color mutations cannot be sex-linked.

Split - The term “split” refers to a parrotlet that looks like a normal, wild type (green) but carries one or more color mutation genes. 

Visual - The term “visual” refers to a parrotlet that is a visual color mutation – that is the color is visible to the observer.

Join the World's Oldest & Largest Parrotlet Organization -
International National Parrotlet Society