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AUSTRALIAN YELLOWFACE (GOLDENFACE)

An Australian Perspectie

By Ken Yorke (2011 revised)

Given recent renewed interest in the Australian Yellowface variety in Australia, I have een asked to write

an article to hel! those !eo!le who are new to this variety" #he $reat !role% with this variety and indeed

all the various yellowface %utations is that there has een %any facts, !seudo&facts, theories and strai$htout untruths written aout these irds" #he reality is that there is still %uch to learn fro% a

scientific'$enetic view!oint aout yellowface irds"

#his article shall concentrate on the Australian Yellowface ut y necessity will %ake so%e %ention of

the other yellowface %utations in order to clarify so%e %isconce!tions with all yellowfaces"

NA!ING

#here are three reco$nised yellowface %utations around the world"

1) Australian Yellowface (also called Goldenface, a na%e created overseas )" I will the leave

decision as to what the final standardised na%e should e u! to the hoy !artici!ants" or the

!ur!oses of this article I will areviate it to AY"

2) n$lish Yellowface *utant 1 (areviated to Y1)" In very early literature this used to e called

Yellowface #y!e 1"

+) n$lish Yellowface *utant 2 (areviated to Y2)" In very early literature this used to e called

Yellowface #y!e 2"

ote-& #here is no such thin$ as an AY #y!e 1 nor an AY #y!e 2, such ter%inolo$y cre!t into the

Australian hoy as a %isinter!retation and a confused corru!tion of the old Y1 and Y2 ter%s

which should never e a!!lied to AY"

"ISUAL DESCRIPTION

All yellowfaces can e doule factor, or co%ined with lue to eco%e sin$le factor" In each case the

doule factor has less yellow in oth ody and win$s than the sin$le factor"

1a) AY doule factor has a ri$ht yellow ($olden.) face (a!!roachin$ the facecolour of a nor%al $reen) #he ody ideally should e a!!roachin$ the colour of a nor%al lue,

ut s!illa$e of yellow fro% the %ask into the u!!er chest is co%%on $ivin$ shades of tur/uoise in

this area" in$ %arkin$s should ideally e white ut so%e yellow s!illa$e is co%%on"

1) AY sin$le factor has a ri$ht yellow ($olden.) face (a!!roachin$ the face colour

of a nor%al $reen)" in$ %arkin$s usually heavily suffused with yellow" It has a ody colour that

is tur/uoise" In %any ehiition standards this tur/uoise colourin$ is heavily !enalised, ut the

reality is that this I the true colour the ird should e accordin$ to nature" hould ehiition

standards e %odified to account for this or does this ird eco%e !enalised out of eistence or

%ade non&standard, either of which will severely reduce the /uantity of the so&called 3desirale4

AY doule factors ein$ red as well"

2a) Y1 doule factor has a white face and in %ost cases cannot e visually

distin$uished fro% traditional nor%al lues" (I sus!ect that so%e doule factors do indeed have avery s%all retention of very !ale yellow on so%e feathers")

2) Y1 sin$le factor has a !ale yellow face" #hese have een nickna%ed as

crea%face or le%onface" #he ody colour is very close to nor%al lue" in$ %arkin$s close to

white"

+a) Y2 doule factor has a !ale to %id yellow face" #he ody colour is suffused

with yellow $ivin$ a sli$ht tur/uoise" in$ %arkin$s suffused with !ale yellow

+) Y2 sin$le factor is si%ilar to Y2 doule factor ut sli$htly %ore yellow""

It should e re%e%ered that all irds no %atter what variety (yellowfaces included) are su5ect to natural

variation in colour and %arkin$s" #hese variations are a !art of the toolkit that skilled reeders use to

3!ush4 the variety characteristics of their ehiition irds in a !articular direction"

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All yellowfaces can e thou$ht of as $reen irds with the yellow !i$%ent !artially re%oved" A $reen ird

with A66 its yellow !i$%ent re%oved a!!ears lue" 7e%ove so%e of the yellow !i$%ent and you $et

tur/uoise colours" #he science ehind how this works is still not fully understood as the che%ical

co%!osition of yellow !i$%ent is still ein$ studied" 6ikewise there %ay e several different for%s of

yellow !i$%ent" tudies on !arrots has shown there is oth 89 and non&89 yellow !i$%ents" 7ecent

studies y :on Burke has also shown si%ilar results in ud$eri$ars and noted differences in the !i$%ents

!resent in AY and Y1" Irres!ective of the science, the easiest analo$y is to think of all yellowfaces as

$reens with yellow !artially re%oved"

In $eneral, this yellow !i$%ent does not $et re%oved evenly across the whole ody" It is re%oved less

fro% the to! of the ird and %ore fro% the otto% of the ird" #he AY shows this trait %ore

cons!icuously than the Y1 and Y2 ecause the AY has %ore (ri$hter) yellow to start with"

It is co%%on therefore for AY to have a ri$ht yellow face which then s!ills into the u!!er chest

creatin$ a dee! tur/uoise and then that tur/uoise eco%es !ro$ressively luer eco%in$ near nor%al lue

around the vent" #he only difference etween AY doule factor and AY sin$le factor in this res!ect is

that the doule factor !ro$resses to lue %uch /uicker (hi$her u! the ody) than the sin$le factor" ;urrent

ehiition standards do not cover (and in fact discoura$e) this natural uneven colourin$, instead fi$htin$

nature to insist on an even shade throu$hout with a clear line of de%arcation at the ase of the %ask fro%

ri$ht yellow to nor%al lue" #his as!ect re!resents a challen$e for the ehiition reeder (

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An interestin$ trait of the AY is that %uch of the yellow !i$%ent in the ody does not fully a!!ear until

after the first %oult" #hat %eans the ody colour of the unroken ca! chicks will e %ore lue, ut after

the first %oult this chan$es to tur/uoise"

#REEDING

#he reedin$ rules of all yellowfaces is still not confir%ed co%!letely" arly literature classed all

yellowface %utations as co%!letely se!arate and unrelated and thus tended to call the% all $enetically

do%inant over lue and could e 3%asked4 y $reen" urther research in oth ud$eri$ars and other

!arrots has shown that instead, %ost (!roaly all) these %utations as well as lue and $reen are in fact all

$enetically related" In other !arrot s!ecies the e/uivalent yellowface %utations are called 3!ar&lue4 (an

areviation of 3!artial lue4) as a $rou!" (Individual %utation na%es have een called, #ur/uoise, A/ua,

%erald, ea Green etc)"

Assu%!tion- All yellowface genes and the green gene and the blue gene are multiples alleles of the same

gene.#his is the current $enetic thinkin$ with sustantial ut not total !roof" Based on this assu%!tion, A66

yellowfaces are recessive to $reen and !artially do%inant over lue" urther%ore there is !roaly a

do%inance hierarchy as follows-&

Green is dominant over AYF which is partially dominant over EYF2 which is partially dominant over

EYF1 which is partially dominant over blue.

#he crude analo$y here is that the %ore yellow !i$%ent the %utation has, the %ore do%inant"

Australian Yellow Face 'rey (ouble Factor)Note that there is minimal yellow spillage below

the mask!"red by# "org $ Ski%ington

Australian Yellow Face Cobalt (ouble Factor)Note that there is minimal yellow spillage below the

mask!"red by# "org $ Ski%ington

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Any ird can have any two of these $enes si%ultaneously" #he i%!lications for AY reedin$ are as

follows-&

2 $reen $enes > Green

2 lue $enes > Blue

1 $reen $ene 1 AY $ene > Green ' AY2 AY $enes > AY (doule factor)

1 AY $ene 1 Blue $ene> AY (sin$le factor)

1 AY $ene 1 Y1 $ene > AYY1 (a co%ination ird)

1AY $ene 1 Y2 $ene > AYY2 (a co%ination ird)

:ue to s!ace restrictions, I will not cover every !ossile $enetic co%ination of all the alleles nor every

!ossile %atin$ as there are do?ens" 6ikewise there is $ene linka$e with the dark factor ecause the $reen,

lue and yellowface $enes are on the sa%e chro%oso%e as the dark $ene" (#hese are covered in %ore

detail in %y 3Bud$eri$ar 9ariety Bile and Avian Genetic ;alculator for those who wish to e!lore the

total $enetic story in %ore detail)

You will notice that a $reen ird cannot e s!lit for oth lue and AY at the sa%e ti%e as that re/uiresthree different alleles and a ird can only have a %ai%u% of two alleles" You will also notice the

AYY1 ird which is a co%ination of oth AY and Y1(with the AY features ein$ sli$htly %ore

do%inant)" I sus!ect that %any of the irds on the ehiition ench today in Australia are this co%ination

and this re!resents a si$nificant issue of identification y oth 5ud$es and reeders"

Another interestin$ feature is that an AY doule factor has < lue $enes" It is technically not a lue

series ird" #his is a conce!t that ehiition reeders find hard to $ras! as they are rainwashed that all

irds are either $reen series or lue series" In fact the yellowfaces are se!arate series of their own and not

really lue irds at all" #his is another reason why it is harder for ehiition yellowfaces to have a true

lue colour which is identical to traditional lues" i%ilarly ecause they are not true lues then

technically s!eakin$ the ter%s ky Blue, ;oalt and *auve should not a!!ly to yellowfaces ut the use of

these ter%s is historical and is unlikely to chan$e as these colours are dee%ed to e the ideal ody colours

to e achieved for yellowfaces" (#he technically correct na%es should e 6i$ht AY, :ark AY and

:oule :ark AY)

#he %ost co%%on %atin$s involvin$ AY are taulated elow"

'reen AYF(d*) AYF(s*) 'reen+AYF

AYF(d*) 100% Green/AYF 100% AYF(df)

AYF(s*)50% Green/Blue50% Green/AYF

50% AYF(df)50% AYF)sf)

25% AYF(df)50% AYF(sf)25% Blue

'reen+AYF50% Green/AYF50% Green

50% Green/AYF50% AYF(df)

25% Green/AYF25% AYF(df)25% Green/Blue25% AYF(sf)

25% AYF(df)50% Green/AYF25% Green

"lue 100% Green/Blue 100% AYF(sf)50% AYF(sf)50% Blue

50% Green/Blue50% AYF(sf)

#he crossin$ of AY with Y1 is not covered in any detail here and in theory %ay have so%e !otential

enefit in achievin$ a desired 3$eneric4 yellowface ehiition ird" By creatin$ such a co%ination ird

you no lon$er have a true AY nor a true Y1 and that raises issues aout eli$iility for AY and'or

Y1 variety tro!hies" ot to %ention, can such irds e relialy identified, with the !otential added need

for yellowfaces to co%e with accredited certificates of authenticity at %a5or shows to avoid

%isidentification and wron$ classin$ of sus!ect irds"

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Ken Yorke

htt!-''users"t!$"co%"au'users'kyorke

http://users.tpg.com.au/users/kyorkehttp://users.tpg.com.au/users/kyorke