Rosy-faced Lovebird Colour Genetics - Base Color

Base Color

All Rosy-faced Lovebirds, without exception, belong to one of two base colors: Green-series (also referred to as Wild Green), which is a dominant trait, and Blue-series, which is a recessive trait. Within the Blue-series base color, there are currently two recognized variants – Dutch Blue (also known as Aqua) and Whitefaced Blue (also known as Turquoise). These recessive Blue-series traits of Aqua and Turquoise are alleles, and when an Aqua allele and a Turquoise allele are matched in a Rosy-faced Lovebird, the resulting variant is referred to as a “Seagreen” (also known as “AquaTurquoise”). As the Blue-series alleles are recessive, a bird must receive one of the blue-series alleles from each parent in order for the blue-series trait to be seen visually. A bird that has only one recessive gene for a specific trait is said to be “split” for that trait. Thus, a bird who receives a green base-color gene from one parent and a blue-series gene from the other parent would be visually Wild Green, as Green is dominant, but “split” for the blue trait.