Lucky Strike

 

This stunning mutation is referred to as a NSL Lutino

Imagine opening up the nestbox of one of your breeding pairs and inspecting the young only to notice that one of the chicks was totally different from any you had ever seen before. Perhaps one had red eyes whilst the others had the usual black eyes. For many the excitement would be starting to kick in but you have to tell yourself to wait and see. Imagine though that at the end you had something different. Then you could get excited.

Well today I had the chance to visit a couple that struck luck by producing an extremely rare mutation from one of their Blue & Gold Macaw pairings. Now the chances of breeding a mutation are extremely low so it is no wonder that it came as a welcome surprise for the couple. After all they had simply acquired a nice pair of normal Blue & Gold Macaws, which they themselves are beautiful.

A view of the back of the bird

So what mutation did they produce? The name given to this particular mutation is NSL (non sex-linked) lutino. Up until their success (which occurred a few years back) there appears to have only been one of these NSL lutino birds bred in Australia and a small number bred in the USA and Europe. The birds bred in the USA have featured both on the Internet and in the AFA Watchbird Magazine and caused quite a stir.

The mutation is recessive in inheritance and debate surrounds whether the bird is in fact a NSL (non sex-linked) lutino or something like a fallow mutation. Whatever the case these birds remain extremely rare and work is being undertaken to establish the mutation. 

Happy Birdkeeping,
Jade
www.jadewelchbirds.com

Copyright © Jade Welch - All Rights Reserved. All photographs and text are protected
by copyright and may not be reproduced by any method without written permission from Mr Jade Welch.