Mutations
Blue caique?!
The above is a picture of a supposed caique mutation. It is an alleged blue caique, but notice something interesting: it is a pallid. At least the other bird in the cage with it, is. Pictures of pallid caiques are few and far inbetween, and are not yet in US Aviculture, so this picture had to originate outside of the States. The status of the alleged mtuation are still trying to be confirmed, but most are dubious as to its possibility.
UPDATE! John McMichael of the caiquesite.com believes this may be a valid mutation. He states: "A blue mutation is what you expect if there is no yellow pigment deposited in the feathers and there are no other mutations. The blue is due to light scattering by vacuole structures in the feather on a melanin background."
We are trying to find out where the bird originated. More updates to follow!
UPDATE: We now have a new page dedicated soley to this new mutation of caique. Please visit our blue caique page for more information
Another interesting caique mutation, this one occuring on a yellow thigh caique:
The occurance of a caique mutation is few and far inbetween. Perhaps its because caiques are already so color splashed, that is hard for their genes to alterate properly to create something that we see as 'different'. A photo of this caique was shared at www.caiquesite.com and dubbed as a white bellied caique mutation. The bird seems to have a yellow 'wash' on it. When trying to determine if or not this mutation is real, one must take in account the health of the bird, as health can do many a thing to bird appearance, including changing feather color.
Sea Green Caique?
One of the first recognized 'mutations' in caiques appeared in a black headed chick about three years ago. One baby in a clutch appeared to have a different 'hue' of green then its clutchmates. It was theorized this chick may be displaying greygreen or melanistic mutation. Unfortunately the chick died before anything could be definatively confirmed, and unless the parents throw another baby with the same coloration, we will never know.
The question is always asked, why are there not occurances of mutations in caiques? At this time there is not an answer to be had, but the site owner suspects that it has something to do with the vast color differences that appear on a single bird. So many colors, it is a lot to genetically alter to make the appearance differ. Unfortunately a lot of times a mutation is a form of inbreeding, to get the desired colors and results, which can consequently negatively impact the offsprings health and well being.