Lutino Mutation Cockatiel
Description
The Lutino Mutation Cockatiel (Nymphicus hollandicus), is a bird that is a member of the cockatoo family endemic to Australia. They are prized as household pets and companion parrots throughout the world and are relatively easy to breed. As a caged bird, cockatiels are second in popularity only to the budgerigar.
The cockatiel is the only member of the genus Nymphicus. It was previously considered a crested parrot or small cockatoo; however, more recent molecular studies have assigned it to its own subfamily, Nymphicinae. It is, therefore, now classified as the smallest of the Cacatuidae (cockatoo family). Cockatiels are native to Australia, and favour the Australian wetlands, scrublands, and bush lands.
The cockatiel's distinctive erectile crest expresses the animal's emotional state. The crest is dramatically vertical when the cockatiel is startled or excited, gently oblique in its neutral or relaxed state, and flattened close to the head when the animal is angry or defensive. The crest is also held flat but protrudes outward in the back when the cockatiel is trying to appear alluring or flirtatious. In contrast to most cockatoos, the cockatiel has long tail feathers roughly making up half of its total length. At 30 to 33 cm (12 to 13 in), the cockatiel is the smallest of the cockatoos which are generally larger at between 30 and 60 cm (12 and 23.5 in).
The "normal grey" or "wild-type" cockatiel's plumage is primarily grey with prominent white flashes on the outer edges of each wing. The face of the male is yellow or white, while the face of the female is primarily grey or light grey, and both sexes feature a round orange area on both ears, often referred to as "cheddar cheeks". This orange colouration is generally vibrant in adult males, and often quite muted in females. Visual sexing is often possible with this variant of the bird.
Cockatiels are relatively vocal birds, the calls of the male being more varied than that of the female. Cockatiels can also be taught to sing specific melodies. Much like parrots, but not quite to that extent, Cockatiels can be taught to repeat words spoken by human owners.
All wild cockatiel chicks and juveniles look female, and are virtually indistinguishable from the time of hatching until their first moulting. They display horizontal yellow stripes or bars on the ventral surface of their tail feathers, yellow spots on the ventral surface of the primary flight feathers of their wings, a grey coloured crest and face, and a dull orange patch on each of their cheeks.
Adult cockatiels are sexually dimorphic, though to a lesser degree than many other avian species. This is only evident after the first moulting, typically occurring about six to nine months after hatching: the male loses the white or yellow barring and spots on the underside of his tail feathers and wings. The grey feathers on his cheeks and crest are replaced by bright yellow feathers, while the orange cheek patch becomes brighter and more distinct. The face and crest of the female will typically remain mostly grey, though also with an orange cheek patch. Additionally, the female commonly retains the horizontal barring on the underside of her tail feathers.
The colour in cockatiels is derived from two pigments: melanin (which provides the grey colour in the feathers, eyes, beak, and feet), and lipochromes (which provide the yellow colour on the face and tail and the orange colour of the cheek patch). The grey colour of the melanin overrides the yellow and orange of the lipochromes when both are present.
The melanin content decreases in the face of the males as they mature, allowing the yellow and orange lipochromes to be more visible, while an increase in melanin content in the tail causes the disappearance of the horizontal yellow tail bars.
In addition to these visible characteristics, the vocalisation of adult males is typically louder and more complex than that of females.
Worldwide there are currently twenty two (22) cockatiel colour mutations established in aviculture with eight being exclusive to Australia. Mutations in captivity have emerged in various colours, some quite different from those observed in nature. Wild cockatiels are grey with visible differences between males and females. Male grey cockatiels typically have yellow heads while the female has a grey head. Juveniles tend to look like females with pinker beaks. The pied mutation first appeared in California in 1949. This mutation is a blotch of colour on an otherwise solid-coloured bird. For example, this may appear as a grey blotch on a yellow cockatiel.
Lutino coloration was first seen in 1958. These birds lack the grey of their wild counterparts and are white to soft yellow. This is a popular colour; due to inbreeding, these cockatiels often have a small bald patch behind their crests. The cinnamon mutation, first seen in the 1950s, is very similar in appearance to the grey; however, these birds have a warmer, browner colouring. Pearling was first seen in 1967. This is seen as a feather of one colour with a different coloured edge, such as grey feathers with yellow tips. This distinctive pattern is on a bird's wings or back. The albino colour mutation is a lack of pigment. These birds are white with red eyes. Fallow cockatiels first appeared sometime in the 1970s. This mutation shows as a bird with cinnamon colouring with yellow sections. Other mutations include: emerald/olive, dominant and recessive silver as well as mutations exclusive to Australia. These are: Australian fallow, faded (west coast silver), dilute/pastel silver (east coast silver) silver spangle (edged dilute), platinum, suffused (Australian olive) and pewter. Other mutations such as face altering mutations include; whiteface, pastelface, dominant yellow cheek, sex-linked yellow cheek, gold cheek, creamface and the Australian yellow cheek.
Cockatiel colour mutations can become even more complex as one bird can have multiple colour mutations. For example, a yellow lutino cockatiel may have pearling – white spots on its back and wings. This is a double mutation. An example of a quadruple mutation would be cinnamon cockatiel with yellowface colouring with pearling and pied markings.
Scientific Name
Nymphicus Hollandicus
Country Of Origin
Australia
Size
Life Expectancy
Noise Level
Talk / Trick Ability
Moderate, a 25-word vocabulary is said to be the average. These parrots will imitate household noises such as the microwave, telephone ring or dog bark.
Characteristics
Cockatiels are curious birds that will snoop around and climb into nooks and crannies, bookcases, cabinets and other tight spots to investigate. These pet birds also enjoy tasting the food their owners are eating. Beak tapping occurs with some cockatiels, where the bird taps their beak on a food dish or perch to get the attention or to motivate someone to let the bird out and play. Night frights are a common occurrence with this pet bird when some shadow in the window or noise from outside startles them. To avoid or minimize night frights, move their cage away from the window so shadows do not startle them and keep a dim light plugged in the bird room. A mutation, such as color or pattern, occurs naturally. However, bird breeders can breed for certain traits, and they have been breeding for different color mutations in cockatiels since the 1940s. A common color mutation in cockatiels is the lutino, which is an all-white cockatiel with a little bit of yellow and a bright reddish cheek patch. Eyes of young lutinos may be red and then change to a darker color as they get older.
Behavior / Health Concerns
Cockatiels will sometimes hiss and sway as a way to intimidate someone they see as an intruder. Cockatiels often swing down beneath their perch to spread their wings for exercise, and they are also known for performing stretching exercises. In the wild, these birds are ground foragers. As pets, cockatiels pick up seed and other food that has dropped to the bottom of their cage. To keep cockatiels from eating their droppings, it is recommended that there be a grate at the bottom of their cage. Common medical concerns for cockatiels include upper respiratory and fatty liver diseases. Keeping your cockatiel on low-calorie, balanced diet will minimize the chances contracting fatty liver disease. Giardiosis, an intestinal parasite is another common medical condition in these birds. The fungal disease aspergillosis usually affects a cockatiel’s sinuses, lungs or air sacs. Cockatiels like to shred or chew the paper lining at the bottom of their cage, however, males and females do this for different reasons. Female cockatiels shred paper during certain seasons for hormonal purposes, preparing her nest site. Males chew on paper to entertain themselves and to satisfy their chewing urge. Cockatiels will “flirt” with each other. Females spread their wings while hanging upside down to get noticed and male cockatiels strut around singing a special melody while standing upright with their wings held out to the side. The male will move up to and away from the female until she signals approval by going into a crouching position on the perch, elevating her tail feathers. Female cockatiels commonly become chronic egg-layers if they are fed a seed and fruit diet because the fat in seeds encourages egg laying and the limited diet is deficient in vitamins and minerals. Egg binding is an emergency female reproductive disorder in which the bird cannot pass the egg out of her oviduct and vent blocking her excretory system.
Expert Advice
“Milder temperament than other parrot species. They make very sweet family birds and are less prone to ‘psychological problems’ than other psittacine birds.”
Liz Wilson, CVT, CPBC
“In my opinion this is the bird of choice for children. Try to buy a male (it is worth the money to have them DNA sexed, you can usually sex these birds by particular feather characteristics but that cannot be done until the bird is just over 6 months of age) because females often become chronic egg-layers which can become extremely expensive and heart breaking as well. Cockatiels commonly have Chlamydiaphila and Giardia, both of these are zoonotic diseases, so proper testing should be done. The males are great talkers! Females rarely, if ever, talk. One other medical problem that comes to mind is articular gout. They are superb flyers, so wing-feathers trims are a must, as with all pet birds in my opinion. However some of these guys can fly even with all of their flight feathers trimmed, so be careful. I love cockatiels. My first bird was a handicapped cockatiel because her mother had removed her toes in the nest box. I made her special perches [that were] flat with felt covering and she did just fine.”
Samuel Vaughn, DVM, Dip. ABVP – Avian Practice