Mutation 1 - Pied (continued) The other type of pied is often called dominant (or better "marked white") and it normally causes a bird to be at least 70% white, sometimes 90% white, with the top of the wings the last place to lose color. Sometimes the head is pure white, sometimes it has a cap of color. Sometimes the eye is not surrounded by pigment and sometimes it is. There has never been any published data to prove this variation is caused by a separate gene from mottled pied and, therefore, it may be just a increase in expression conditioned by another gene or the environment. Pure dark eyed white birds are said to be the product of mottled x marked white but I have evidence to the contrary. Indeed I have produced mottled pieds on occasion from pairings of two dark eyed whites indicating gene expression issues may be more responsible than combinations of genes. Image
of Marked White Pied (white headed
type) |
