Violets

One day, some years ago, Crawford Maddux said to me, " Stop by I have some birds for you." That was the start of my love affair with violets. And, by the way that was the most expensive free Budgie I ever received. The Budgie Crawford gave me was a yellowface cobalt. Unknown to me that bird was really a yellowface violet sky. I mated that bird to a cobalt hen and that was the start of my love affair with violets. I have bred violets for over twenty years now. Along the way, I've learned many interesting things about violets. Much of the initial information I received does not stand the test of time. But let me start with some historical information on the violet.

The violet mutation occurred in several countries about the same time. As more dark greens and blues were bred, the violet appeared. According to Australian records, violets were developed in the early 1930s. A Mr. Burton of Sydney bred violets prior to 1934, and violets were exhibited that year in Australia by a Mr. Harold Pier. References to purple or violet colored budgerigars in Germany and Britain go back to the mid 1920s. Interestingly, most books state that violets first appeared in the 1930s. Cobalts appeared for the first time in 1920, having been bred from dark greens. Dark greens were first established at Blanchard's Aviaries in France in 1915, but it is unclear whether they arose from a new mutation or were imported in consignments of wild budgerigars. There were reports from importers in Europe that dark greens were found among the consignments of wild greens. As you may have noted violet greens look very much like dark greens. It takes a trained eye to tell the difference. In the same vein violet skys look very much like cobalts. It has been suggested that the violet factor was not a new mutation but rather arose from wild caught birds imported from Australia. Peter Bergman of Sydney, Australia suggests this is the reason we saw the mutation in several countries at about the same time. The first record of violets in Great Britain was in the mid-thirties. Mrs. Brown of Morecombe imported whitewing violets from Australia. Soon after the distinguished Mr. Wathough purchased several birds from Mrs. Brown. In 1939 there were several references to violets culminating with a pair of violet Budgerigars shown at the Crystal Palace Show. It is not my intent to hold a genetics class, however a little genetic information is needed to understand the violet factor.

The violet factor is a dominant factor. As a dominant factor, violet cannot be masked. The violet factor always has an affect on the color of a bird regardless of the base color. The depth of the base color will regulate the intensity of the violet affect. The violet factor can be both single and double factor. In the double factor violets, the color is more intense and even. A violet trait on the same gene as a dark factor produces a more intense color than a violet factor on a normal gene. It is in the blue series that we recognize as the show violet. In the blue series we have the Sky, Cobalt and Mauve. With the addition of the Violet factor, the colors get a little more difficult to identify. The violet skyblues color ranges from a very well colored sky to a normal cobalt. The telling factor is the main tail feathers. The violets tend to have a turquoise edging on the tail feathers. Birds with a violet factor tend to have a glossier turquoise iridescence when viewed under florescent lighting. Just when you feel you have the violet sky-cobalt issue resolved, let me introduce the double factor violet sky. Double factor violet skies are similar in color to single factor violet cobalt. At this point let me add the term visual violet. This visual violet is the color that we call a show violet. This bird usually consists of a single dark factor and a single violet factor. However the double factor sky violet is very similar in depth of color to the cobalt violet. In many cases the color is the same to an untrained eye. This realization explained my initial experience with violets. From my first sky violet I bred double factor sky violets. These birds appeared to be normal visual violets. But I never produce true cobalt or mauve from this gene pool. This led me to understand that I did not possess a dark factor in my violet gene pool. Another factor I did not understand was the linkage of the violet factor and the dark factor. When I would show my early violets against Crawford's, I would always note a shade difference. This difference was very notable as a shade darker. Later I acquired the second line of violets from Crawford and learned the secret.

In the new line, the dark factor was located on the same chromosome as the violet factor. This made the violet cobalt substantially darker bird than the double factor sky violet. This new violet line that I acquired from Crawford was named the "Mikie" line. Crawford and I selected this bird in the nest. Mikie was not my first choice of the chicks in the nest. The best was actually a violet white cock. This bird would make Crawford's eyes light up, a real stormer. I was well pleased with Mikie. Mikie was a true violet cobalt, visual violet with the violet and dark factor on the same gene. This was the foundation of my second line of violets. I paired Mikie to a cobalt hen that was not part of the original violet line. This produced several nice violets and two cobalt hens. And so the Mikie line was born. At this point I could compare cobalts, sky violets, double factor sky violets and violet cobalts. In four show cages I had the four birds in one place under the same light. The cobalt was the lesser shade of color than the violet sky. The difference being a luster in the color of the violet sky. Both of these bird would be classified as cobalts based on initial review. The double factor violet sky was a violet in the true sense. When the double factor sky was compared to the violet cobalt the difference was clear. The violet cobalt was shade deeper in color. I then compared a cobalt violet with the violet factor and dark factor on the same gene. This cobalt violet same gene Budgie was again a shade deeper. So we now have five shades of color. Now I understood what Taylor and Warner were discussing in chapter ten of their book Genetics for Budgerigar Breeders. They detailed the same experiments that I spent years duplicating. I actually read the book several years before, but lacked the understanding of their words. But they stopped their experiments with violet cobalts and double factor sky violets. Peter Bergman conducted extensive research on the violet factor. Much of what Bergman offers for your consideration is substantiated by my breeding results.

At this point you are probably thinking, " what more could be said about violets?" Well, there are several more issues to consider. We should discuss the double factor cobalt violet. Then we have the mauve, violet mauve and double factor violet mauve. Then the anti-violet factor must be discussed. We'll leave these matters for another day and let you go out to the aviary and look at your cobalts and violets. With this new knowledge you will probably view your cobalts and violets with a keener eye. This is the chart of the different genetic variations. This chart only considers the violet and dark factors for our discussions. dv/dv Sky dv/dV Sky Violet Single Factor dV/dV Sky Violet Double Factor Dv/dv Cobalt Dv/dV Cobalt Violet Single Factor DV/dv Cobalt Violet Single Factor Same Chromosome

We had just finished talking about single factor cobalt violets in our last segment. But I did give you fair warning that we had not covered all that is the violet Budgie. Let's start out considering the dark factor. If you will remember, there were studies of the dark factor links with a color gene. To explain this linkage of the dark factor, Taylor and Warner in Genetics for Budgerigar Breeders investigated the question of dark greens split blue. In the TYPE I, dark green split blue, the dark gene is linked to the green gene which will produce mostly, if not all, dark greens and sky blues when mated to a sky. In the Type II, dark greens split blue, where the dark gene is linked to the blue gene it will produce light greens and cobalts when paired to a sky. The difference in the results was the linkage of the dark factor to the color gene in the bird. Basically the dark factor and the color factor traveled as a unit. This accounts for the difference in results when breeding dark green Type I and Type II birds. Now we add the violet factor in much the same way. The violet factor travels with the gene to which it is linked. So now we can say we have violet cobalt Type I and violet cobalt Type II, the difference being linkage of the violet trait to the dark or light gene in a cobalt. If you breed a violet Type I to a sky you will get all cobalts and violet skies. If you breed a violet Type II to a sky you will get violet cobalts and skies. When you place violet cobalt Type I along side violet cobalt Type II you can see the difference in coloring. The Type II is a shade darker with more life to the color.

For years I exhibited my violets against Crawford Maddux's. Each time I noted the shade difference in my violets. My violets were just not as rich a color as Crawford's. Crawford's violets were the Type II with the violet factor tied to the dark factor. In order to produce the violet of my dreams I needed both the violet factor linked to the light gene and the violet factor liked to the dark gene. I wanted a cobalt double factor violet. We are in new territory now. No one except Peter Bergman had ever ventured this far with violets. I set up my pairs and waited. In the first round I had two cocks that looked like they could be my dream birds. They are, in nest feather, as dark or darker than their father. Time will tell if they are the true cobalt double factor violet. Somewhere along the way, I made a mistake and paired violet cobalt to cobalt. I mistook the cobalt to be a violet sky. In the chicks that I produced I had a violet mauve. What a difference the violet factor makes in mauve. In the normal mauve the dull color is replaced with a deep blackish purple. The bird is no longer a blackish slate. By now you know where we are headed with this. It's on to double factor violet mauve. My guess at this point is a bird that is a vibrant violet black. This would be a truly lovely bird. In the past, the dark factor was always associated with small stature and fine feather. In the past several years this problem of feather and size has been resolved. There are many dark greens that hold their own with light greens and gray greens. Not only do we see good dark greens and cobalts, but we see them in good numbers. With good dark factor stock available, the show violet became possible.

The Mikie line violets have both size and feather. We traced the dark factor in the Mikie line dark factor back to the Moss stud in Britian. So far we have discussed the dark factor and the violet factor in the production of violets. In my breedings I encountered other factors that will modify the color of a Budgie. You need to be aware of these factors in order to produce the style of violets that you can show. These are not officially recognized factors with a set standard for their effect. Rather, these factors are very subtle but never the less affect the final coloring of Budgies. The first is the pastel factor. This character is not recognized as a genetic mutation as the change in coloring is so subtle. If this factor is present, a sky's body coloring would look something like a shade between a cinnamon sky and a normal sky. This factor modifies all shades of color in both the green and blue series. Old time breeders would refer to this as a poorly colored sky and suggest you dip back into the green to get the richer sky color back. As this pastel factor is recessive to normal coloring, the resulting chicks would all be of a richer color. However each chick carried the pastel factor, which would reemerge later when paired to another Budgie split to pastel. This is a factor you do not want to get into your violets. I made the mistake and it took me a while to back out the trait.

The second factor is the wash. This is often referred to as the opaline wash. This genetic factor is also not recognized as a distinct mutation. This is another undesirable recessive trait. Many have reasoned that this is a result of a Budgie split for opaline. We have found this not to be the case. In this mutation the shading around the neck and head is modified. You may even see some body color in the wings. This causes the color in those areas to be diluted with the ground color. In cobalts you may see some violet effects around the neck and back of the head. The end result is an uneven coloring on the bird. In show competition you may lose to an evenly colored bird.

The third is the blotch. Blotchy color does not show much in a sky or light green. If you add a dark factor then you start to see the mismatch in color on the body. In good light, these areas appear to have a tint of gray added to blochy segments of the chest and stomach. I believe this is also a recessive mutation. If you breed a blotchy bird to a good normal the even color returns. Again this is a minor issue, but something you do not want to get into your violet stock.

The last is the sparkle factor. I believe this to also be a recessive gene. You may have noted in your travels a really fine colored bird. The bird just stood out. The color just glowed. There is an extra shine and life to the color. This is a factor you should really cultivate. This is a difficult trait to acquire as you do not see this sparkle very often. However this sparkle trait is well worth your consideration. So now we have covered all the information on violets to date. That is not to say we, the violet breeders of the world, are not working on a better violet right now. A deeper color and darker shade is just one nest away. Lastly I would ask of you, if you see a bird whose color just stands out, take a second look. This may be the trait we are searching for to build a better violet. To those light green breeders: look over your shoulder - we're coming. Happy Breeding from the Hi Hopes gang!