Abstract
Decapitation comes to mind when I think of the three uniquely different Yellowheaded Indian Ringneck mutations. Until the egalitarianism born of the French revolution, the accepted rule of law was that persons of distinction were decapitated and the riff-raff hung by the neck until dead. Royalty and persons in positions of prominence have always been treated differently by society and a rare mutation colored bird was a highly prized commodity given and accepted by the most elite.
Genetically speaking, the Ringneck tribe are "persons of merit" for they are genetically decapitated. One set of genes affect them from the collar up, while others work from the collar down. The demarcation line for the executioner's ax and for the genetic differentia is the collar of distinction that all Psittaculids have. We can see this quite clearly on Slaty-heads, Blossom-heads and Plum-heads.
Green, yellow and dilute shades of green are often a common point brought to issue by people interested in color. To be green, a parrot has to have the black pigment known as melanin present throughout the feathers. Without it blue cannot be produced and then we would be left with basically a yellow bird. The easiest way I have been able to explain this concept is to think of what colors make up green ; blue and yellow or G = B + Y. If the blue is absent we have yellow Clutino) Y = G - B, if the yellow is missing, we have blue. If both blue and yellow are lacking, we have white (albino) and you can figure out the math. So melanin is a very important pigment. With lesser amounts of black we notice such color variants as cinnamon or fallow wherein the green is lighter in color than the norrnal and
appears "diluted" or. in some cases, wishy-washy.
The different colors existing throughout a bird are explained hy a differential deposit of melanin. Melanin is not deposited evenly over the body and in psittaculids the collar, the decapitating zone, is one of the determinants. There is naturally, innately, genetically in the Normal Ringneck far less melanin directed to the head. Quite often one can notice a bluish sheen in the nape area of a normal male, and many people comment on the difference in head and body color that their Blue Ringnecks have.
There are several genes which affect the deposition of melanin (in humans there are said to he at least five and by their proportions we get black, not so black, brown, light brown, tan and white races). Now if a gene mutates to reduce the amount of melanin to the feathers it will differentially "yellow" the body as opposed to the head. In other words, each and every mutation that reduces the amount of melanin will have more effect on the head than on the body. The head area not having enough to start with, shows the effect of the robbery more than the wealthy (in melanin) body.
So Normal and Cinnamon Ringnecks have a lighter head. Still, some mutations take things a stage further and take away, like an impartial tax collector, an equal amount from the "melanin rich" body as they do from the "melanin poor" head. But in a case like this, the amount of melanin removed is all or nearly all of the melanin the head has. So the head becomes yellow and the body, although it has the same amount gone, still has enough melanin left to appear green, admittedly a lighter green. Thus we get Yellow-heads.
As I stated before, there exist three uniquely different Yellow-headed mutations. Two are autosomal recessive in their mode of inheritance and
are most rare. These are known as "Yellow-head Yellow-tail" and "Redeyed Yellow-head" (also called "Buttercup" in Europe). The third and more common form is sex linked and is called "Cinnamon Yellow-head."
Because of the enthusiasm the Dutch, Belgian and Germans share when it comes to acquiring mutation hirds, these highly proficient breeders are, unfortunately, the ones who name these precious gems of nature. I say unfortunately because all too often recognizable mutations are incorrectly and inaccurately labeled according to the "different" phenotypes they possess. Birds are given names which are truly odd and, sometimes, impressively ignorant, making the identification and nomenclature very confusing for· most people. This is the subject of another article which I intend to write in the near future. But now I feel a brief description of the three Yellowhead mutations is in order
Sex Linked Cinnamon Yellowhead
The most numerous or common variety is sex linked and known as "Cinnamon Yellow-head" or "Lacewing." A sex linked mutation is easier to propagate than a recessive one thus explaining why the Cinnamon Yellow-heads out numher all others. This mutation first came to Europe in the early 1980's and was immediately introduced to various other colors. Although it is a very nice pastel mutation, it is the least dramatic of the Yellow-heads because the contrast between the yellow head and the yellowish body is not strong. This particular mutation has quite a range of color due to the amount of melanin allocated to the body as described earlier by the effectdifferential deposition has. Initially, most Cinnamon Yellowheads were a very light yellowishgreen in the body with a good yellow head. At birth all Cinnamon Yellowhead chicks can he identified in the nest as they have red eyes and white toenails. As they feather. hath the cock and hen are, indeed, yellow-headed and their once-red eye darkens to a dark plum color appearing almost normal. The neck ring in a mature cock is brown and red, the flight and tail feathers are cinnamon (light brown), the
feet are light and the toenails are light brown. Cinnamon Yellow-head has proven to be an allele of Lutino and as a consequence, some Cinnamon Yellow-heads can produce Lutinos if paired properly and, to some breeder's great surprise, can be produced by Lutinos.
There have been listings and reports of a "Lacewing" mutation but I think that this will prove to be a Cinnamon Yellow-head which has Lutino in its background. A more pale or much lighter Cinnamon Yellow-head can arise when one breeds to produce a double factor mutation. This is not the most aesthetically pleasing bird to most people because the contrast between the head and body color is reduced more and more, but it's worth mentioning for the purpose of education. Because of the rapid rate which this mutation has been produced, nearly all the color combinations have now been established; i.e., "Cinnamon Gray-green Yellow-head", "Cinnamon Turquoise-blue Yellow-head", "Cinnamon Blue White-head" and "Cinnamon Gray White-head".
I imported my first such birds from Europe in 1986 and was fortunate enough to raise a Cinnamon Blue White-head the following year. For the time being, these are the correct descriptive names that these mutations deserve and I urge all breeders to demonstrate responsibility when 'advertising or referring to them. We don't need more confusion and if we call our birds "Silver White-heads" or "Pure Mountain Snow-headed Blues" we are only taking away from the hobby by adding more mystification to an already complicated issue of nomenclature involving simple genetics.