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Breeding Violet Whitewings

and of interest to all Clearwing breeders

by John W. Evans

Introduction      

Gwyn Evans could have been writing about me when he wrote in Budgerigar World of March 1998 that most newcomers to the fancy join because they have been attracted by "the pretty coloured budgerigars they have seen somewhere".
A picture of a Violet Whitewing once took my eye and I've been dedicated to breeding them for the last seventeen years.

 Malcolm Freemantle started his article "Breeding Violet Whitewings for Exhibition" in Budgerigar World of May 1998 with the words "Whitewings are the most colourful of the Clearwing variety with the Whitewing Violet standing out from the rest, as far as colour and contrast is concerned".   This is probably why I'm still trying to produce the best example ever of the variety.

Malcolm also wrote that the combination of the three points that go to make up the variety, i.e. body colour, wing clarity and size, mean that it is difficult to breed good examples.

As Clearwings are recessive to all other varieties except Dilute, improving their qualities as budgerigars is a life's work.

Some of you reading this will not be interested in size at present as you are breeding for your own pleasure and dispose of your surplus stock to the pet market.   This means that your task, while not easy, will not be as difficult as that of the dedicated exhibitor.   However, many of today's exhibitors started in this way, and it is worth pointing out that you cannot improve pet birds up to exhibition quality, and you will have to buy new stock if you later change your direction.   It would be cheaper in the long term (and perhaps even in the short) to buy initially the lesser birds of an experienced and knowledgeable breeder rather than pet type birds.

This article will give general guidance on starting up in the variety, how to manage the various factors in its make up and then to give advice on developing and improving your birds.   There aren't many mistakes I haven't made and hopefully the article might help you to avoid them and get you to the point where you're breeding successfully in a shorter time than it took me, and with less heartache.   I hope all breeders of Clearwings will find something of interest, even if only to find fault with what I write. I look forward to your suggestions!

I keep about ninety adult birds of which about one third are Violet Whitewings.   The remainder are a mixture of Violet Skyblues and Violet Mauves, other non-Violet Whitewings, Yellow-wings (which are mostly split blue) with some carrying the Violet factor, Whites (some Violet) and a few Yellows.   From these I can breed Violet Whitewings more or less as required.   The four shown on the left below are from two nests bred early in 2000.   This is above average, especially as three of them (plus a White Violet Cobalt) were bred from a Violet Olive Green/Blue/Dilute Yellow-wing cock and a White Skyblue hen - the odds against such an outcome are huge!   Those on the right below are from two nests in late 2005 but their parentage was more "conventional" with a more predictable outcome.

The photo below is of the Violet Cobalt Whitewings bred in the 2006 first round (hatched April) and are from four nests (apologies for the quality - they wouldn't all pose at the same time!).   Four of them could be double-factor Violets as both parents in each case were Violet.

Early in 1999 I had five Violet Whitewing chicks of the same age at the same time which was unusual for me and caused me to start a small article on their breeding - and this article is the result!   I use the other colours and varieties to improve one or more qualities.   Restricting the numbers of birds you keep is difficult when breeding the more complex varieties.   One may have a good head, another clear wings, another good body colour and yet others may have some of the general budgerigar qualities required.   I probably keep too many birds for the number I breed each year (100+) but they make a beautiful sight in the flight and that's a good enough reason.

Contents

Starting up and Finding out

Very often the first purchase of a Violet Whitewing is from a pet shop or garden centre where the buyer was first attracted to the variety.   If you are new to budgerigars this can give problems, in that you will have to learn all about budgerigar management (which is outside the scope of this article) at the same time as getting to grips with the apparently complex rules of inheritance which apply to this variety.   If this is the case then don't despair, just be prepared for difficulties, read all you can and try to find someone local who can help you.   Your local Cage Bird Society will have someone who can help with the budgerigar side and if they can't help with advice on Whitewings, the Secretary of the Clearwing Budgerigar Breeders Association (CBBA) should be able to refer you to your nearest Clearwing breeder.   Whatever you do, don't flounder about in the dark and get discouraged when there are so many helpful breeders around if you know where to ask.

A further word of advice - don't try to reinvent the wheel by starting with a Clearwing and a Violet Normal or other variety as it just takes too long to achieve a basic breeding team that will produce results good enough to keep you interested.   I wasted a few years by doing my own thing - I learnt a lot in the process, but now know that I could have made much quicker progress.   There are many Clearwing breeders around the UK and more than two hundred of them belong to the CBBA. Some of them will have done a lot of the hard work for you so why not start from the advantage of their experience and develop their results to even higher levels?

If you have already bought some birds, try and find out who bred them and what they were bred from and the factors and qualities they might be carrying, as these will give you an idea of what to expect from selected pairings using the examples etc., below.   Given the choice, I wouldn't now start from here!   The first thing I'd suggest (with the wisdom of hindsight) is that you visit at least one Championship Show to see what is being bred and exhibited by the top breeders.   Even if you are breeding just for enjoyment you should know what a Violet Whitewing looks like!   And if you breed a surplus you will be able to dispose of them to a wider and more lucrative market if they conform to the basic standard.

In the Ideal Bird

• The Violet body colour should be a solid and even shade approximating to the Normal in depth and intensity.
• The wings should be clear white and free from all markings and the primary flight feathers should be white.
• The mask should be clear white with the throat spots completely absent or only faintly discernible.
• The frontal and crown should be clear and free from all markings and the markings on the cheeks, back of the head and neck should be faintly discernible on a clear white ground, all markings being free of any intrusion of body colour.
• The cheek patches should be Violet.
• The primary tail feathers should be deep blue (although there has been much heated debate about the colour of a Clearwing's tail - see "A Tale of a Tail" etc.).

  Major faults are considered to be:

• Dilution of the body colour.
• Pale cheek patches.
• Absence of blue feathers in the tail.
• Markings on the wings.
• Opalescence on back of head, neck or wings.

The above qualities and faults are extracts from The Budgerigar Society "Colour Standards and Guidelines for Judges and Exhibitors"

Then try and fix a picture in your mind of the bird you would eventually like to breed.   I often refer to the picture published in The Budgerigar of January 1994 of John Monks' Young Bird CC winner at the 1993 Club Show (left).   Dave Guppy's Yellow-wing hen (right) which won the same award in 1997 and was pictured in Budgerigar World of May 1998 has given me a new standard for head quality.

Obtaining Birds

Follow this by a visit to at least one Clearwing breeder to find out what is available rather than being exhibited - unless you're very lucky they won't be the same things!   Having found someone willing to sell, what you buy will depend to a certain extent on what you are prepared to pay, and this in turn will depend upon whether you will be breeding with a view to exhibiting or purely for your own pleasure.   In the latter case you might be able to get at a reasonable price a lower quality budgerigar which is, nevertheless, an attractive Clearwing in all other respects.   I must point out though that high quality Violet Whitewings are difficult to breed and will probably be priced accordingly - if available at all - so you'll have to breed your own!

Whatever you buy, obtain a pedigree if possible, as this will be invaluable later when trying to build related and separate lines. Take the advice of the breeder about pairings as only the breeder will know the hidden history of the birds and their parents and this will determine the likelihood of the pairing being a success.   Another good reason for following the breeder's advice is that you stand more chance of a successful outcome by breeding together birds from the same stud, than by randomly pairing birds from different sources or lines.

If breeders seem unwilling to state that birds are pure Clearwings (often described as "double factor Clearwings"), i.e., not split for Dilute, it's because they cannot be certain and not because they are trying to con you.   This is because a lot of (most?) Clearwings are split for Dilute (often referred to in Whitewings as "split for White" or as a "single factor Clearwing", and written as "/Dilute" or "/White" or "1F") and these are no different visually to those that are not split.   See the paragraph below on Whitewing and Whitewing x White inheritance

Some basic advice on buying particular varieties and combinations

1.   You should try to obtain at least one Whitewing Violet Cobalt.   Any budgerigar can carry the Violet factor but it is only when combined with the colour Cobalt that it becomes visually self-evident and thus guaranteed to be carrying the Violet you need.

2.   Do not buy Violet to breed with Violet initially as this combination can cause problems for the inexperienced and some of the results may be disappointing.   As an example, one youngster bred recently from Whitewing Violet Cobalt x Whitewing Violet Skyblue had excellent body colour but the wings were awful.   This doesn't always happen but when it does it isn't an encouraging beginning when you're just starting out.

3.   Buy all Whitewings if they are available - they will give less wastage and the surplus young will be easier to dispose of. Whitewing Skyblues and Cobalts are the most useful to breed with the Violets, you can always breed your own Mauves if the fancy takes you.
You may be offered a White claimed to be a Whitewing, as a White with strong body colour can look like a Whitewing with poor body colour.   The tell-tale sign is the depth of colour of the cheek patches.   The cheek patch of a White is paler than that of a Whitewing although it sometimes isn't quite as evident, particularly when you haven't both varieties available to compare.   That's not to say that you shouldn't buy Whites, just that you should know them for what they are (see 6 below).

4.   The Whitewings you buy should have the clearest white wings that you can get. Experienced breeders can put two dirty winged birds together for a particular purpose and get some clear winged offspring because they know some of the hidden qualities that the birds are carrying.   But even they are not always successful and I recently had a nest-box containing six dirty-winged youngsters to prove it!   Many fanciers desert Clearwings due to their disappointment with the clarity of the wings of the birds they breed.   The general rule is that you can't clean up wings without at least one bird with clear wings although clarity of wing can be bred.

5.   Try to buy Whitewings with a solid body colour.   Many of today's birds are "washed out" and show a fading of body colour from the mask downward and/or a patchy colour with white showing through the blue (yellow through the green in Yellow-wings).   Pairing together two birds with poor body colour is unlikely to produce birds with good body colour.

6.   Whites are very useful if Whitewings aren't available, as White is recessive to Clearwing - the only variety that is.   This means that you can breed Whitewings directly from a Whitewing x White pairing.
Unless you are experienced I suggest that you only use Whites bred from Whitewings (see 7 below).   Another reason for using them is that Whites bred this way are often better budgerigars than their Whitewing nest-mates.   Look particularly for Violet Cobalt Whites and Whites that show desirable qualities such as clarity of wing, size, good head etc. but avoid those that have a very pale body colour.
The Violet Cobalt White pictured on the right was bred from Clearwings and is a good example of a useful partner for a Clearwing hen.
There is some debate about the diluting effect on body colour caused by the use of Whites.
It is my opinion (formed by long observation) that provided the White has a solid body colour with good depth of colour (for a White), there will be no dilution.   The effect of Whites on the depth of colour of cheek patches and tail is also the subject of ongoing debate.   Using any non-Whitewings can produce a "wastage" problem.   (The cock pictured was paired with a Skyblue Whitewing/White that has very good body colour.   Among the youngsters is a Violet Cobalt Whitewing hen with excellent body colour and clear wings - but I think she will never make an exhibition budgerigar - she is the on the left of the group shown near the beginning of the article - that's how it goes! March 2000)

The Whites pictured here were bred from a pair that included only one Clearwing parent.   They have a pale body colour but I have used them with Clearwing partners strong in that respect as I consider they have strengths to offer, despite the advice given in 7. below.
The cock on the left has good head, a deep mask and good shoulders whereas his brother on the right is almost as good in the head and is a longer bird.   They both have the head and face feather that is lacking from most exhibition Clearwings.   The bird on the left has been paired to a Dark Green/Blue/Dilute Yellow-wing hen from one of my established lines and they have bred some very promising Whitewings and Yellow-wings as well as some good Whites and Yellows (including one Yellow cock with completely clear wings).
I have passed some of them back to the breeder who lent them to me and he has also bred some very promising birds from these offspring including one that is very special at 6 weeks.

I have retained a few including the promising youngster shown on the left.
He won his class as Best Whitewing Young Bird at 5 months of age in July 1999 at a fairly big show.   His body colour isn't as good as I would like and when in nest feather I was undecided whether he is was a pale Whitewing or a deeply suffused White but his colour is now hardening.   He also he won Best Budgerigar at a local show in Nov. 99 - quite an achievement for a Clearwing even against only moderate opposition (of all varieties).
I am now (March 2000) pairing him to the hen on the right (Olive Green/Blue Yellow-wing - probably carrying Violet) as her brother paired to his sister have produced some Violet Whitewings of promise (the three on the right of the group pictured near the beginning of this article).   November 2000 update - the first clutch only produced one fertile egg which hatched into a nice Violet Whitewing hen.   I put them back into the flight until September and their first round of six fertile eggs produced three Violet Whitewings.   The hen is now sitting on another nine fertile eggs so I'm hoping other hens will have spare capacity to foster!   (Final update 2006 - He died in May 2005 after winning another Whitewing CC in 2004 and rearing another final round of three in 2005 - his blood lives on!)
The cock on the top right has bred three very good youngsters (as well as some just good)which are now coming through their first moult - and are "where did that come from" types of bird.   As at March 2000 the top left cock has another nest of good looking youngsters that I will keep to maturity.
I have found from breeding that the cock above top left is split Cinnamon and the one top right is split for both cinnamon and opaline and so the proportion I can keep is much smaller than if they were "clean" - one of the problems that lurks in birds of unknown pedigree!(see 7. below).

7.   Do not buy Whites bred from Normals or other varieties, unless you are experienced enough to deal with the problems they can bring.   They may produce dirty wings and can be carrying hidden factors such as cinnamon and opaline which are to be avoided unless you're intending to breed Opaline Whitewings, Rainbows or Cinnamon Whitewings.
Cinnamon is an insidious factor in that many Cinnamon Clearwings that are produced have clear wings and a body colour not too different from that of some of the Clearwings seen around.   Unless you're careful you could breed from them and then suddenly be shocked when you show them and/or their offspring for the first time and are "wrong-classed" as they should not be shown in Clearwing classes.   Having said that, Cinnamon Violet Whitewings are very pretty birds if they're what you intend to breed.

Having given you that advice, the White cock pictured above right had three chicks with one of my hens which has a deep strong body colour.   I was anticipating wastage but was hoping to produce Clearwings with some of his obvious qualities.   One is a Violet Cobalt Whitewing hen of very good size but with dirtyish wings, the second is a Violet Cobalt Whitewing cock which was probably the best cock I bred in 1999 (but again with the wings problem), and the best hen I bred that year - but she is a Cinnamon Whitewing!
I have now bred with the Cinnamon daughter and two of her offspring are normal Whitewing hens - big but dirty - but with no hidden unwanted factors and so useful.
Knowing now that this White cock is split cinnamon and split opaline means that I can safely keep non-cinnamon and non-opaline hens for breeding but must treat all cocks as possibly split cinnamon and/or split opaline.   If good enough, I can exhibit the cocks, but breeding with them will perpetuate the problem.   This is a clear demonstration of the problems that can happen with good outcrosses of unknown pedigree!   But with luck it can also work the other way.   The White cock above left, in his latest round, has produced a Yellow (suffused) cock of intense yellow body colour with bright clear wings and with yellow flight feathers.   This bird is a surprising and welcome bonus - his parents have only moderately clear wings and were paired for exhibition qualities rather than for clarity of wings.



8.   Try to avoid Normals split for Whitewing for the same reasons.   Normals split for Whitewing are usually used to remedy some lack of exhibition quality and wing clarity in particular might suffer for a few generations.   If you are experienced or just optimistic then you might, as I am planning to do, use a bird like the one on the left above which is a Normal Violet Cobalt split for Clearwing.   (As it happens, it died before I could breed with it).

9.   Ignore the advice given in Budgerigar World of March 1998 regarding pairing Normals to Clearwings unless you have enough experience to appreciate most (of the many) problems that can be encountered and are prepared to accept them.   The bird in the middle above is, believe it or not, a Whitewing!   It was bred from a cock with a proven potential for clear-winged Whitewings and a hen which was only two generations from an exhibition Normal.   I am now (in 2006) undecided whether or not I will use it in as it demonstrates all I dislike about breeding for size and conformation etc.   The current Budgerigar Society standards, in my opinion, give too little weighting to the properties that can make a Clearwing so attractive (clear wings combined with intense body colour) and so if you are breeding Clearwings to win prizes then perhaps breeding birds with wings like this one is a step on the long journey to an exhibition Clearwing with, at best, only moderately clear wings.

When breeding disappointments like this one the experience might mean that you dump the Clearwings and finish up breeding the Normals.   The potential for disappointment is great!

To complete the argument, the bird on the right is six generations from a Sky Blue White bred from a Normal and has many clear-winged birds in its pedigree.   It is a young Violet Mauve with fairly good wings (better than most seen on the show bench) and it looks better in real life than in the photo - my fault!

10.   Good examples of Yellow-wings split Blue might be easier to obtain than good Whitewings and can be very useful, but, except for pairing 7 below, can reduce the proportion of Violet Whitewings bred.

11.   Avoid obtaining Greywings to breed with Whitewings even though the varieties are closely related and an attractive combination can be bred from this pairing.   For those not familiar with the varieties, Greywings are not Whitewings with dirty wings but a distinct variety.   The body colour is lighter, the cheek patches paler and the wings have the even markings of a Normal but with grey replacing black.

12.   Avoid Grey as a colour until you are experienced with Clearwings as they can introduce a whole series of problems you can well do without, the principal one being the detrimental effect Grey has on the brightness of body colour.

Breeding

It may seem obvious, but to start breeding Violet Whitewings you need Whitewings (or Yellow-wings split Blue) and one of them must be carrying the Violet factor.   There are many pairings that may give you none, one, some, or even all, chicks with both the body colour and wings required and Malcolm Freemantle's book "The Art of Breeding Clearwings" is essential reading in this respect.   However I'm starting from what might be available rather than desirable and will only give in detail some of the pairings that you might use.

Without going deeply into genetics, there are a few basic patterns of inheritance that you should be aware of as they are of great importance in the breeding of the

Whitewing - Violet - Cobalt

Whitewing and Whitewing x White inheritance

Whitewings and Yellow-wings are both Clearwings and share the same pattern of inheritance.
I am using "2F" and "1F" (double factor and single factor) as these terms are used in other publications (and not just to confuse you!)

In Clearwings,

• 2F = Pure Clearwing not split for Dilute
• 1F = Clearwing split for Dilute (split for White in Whitewings)
   

Double factor Whitewings (2F) cannot be visually distinguished from single factor Whitewings (1F).   If a pair produce no Whites in a couple of rounds you may reasonably assume that one or both are 2F Whitewings, but not which one if only one is 2F!

The same pattern will apply if you breed Yellow-wings or breed Whitewings with Yellow-wings. The differences will be in colour only.

Violet Factor Inheritance

The Violet factor is not a colour but a factor that modifies colour.   Budgerigars of all colours and varieties can be carrying the Violet factor but it is only when the bird is Cobalt in colour that the factor modifies the colour to produce the desired Violet Cobalt body colour.   The Violet factor is dominant which means that no bird can be split for Violet - but that doesn't mean you can always see that it is being carried by a colour other than Cobalt.   A description of the appearance of birds carrying the factor is attempted below.

Appearance

A Violet Sky Blue can be almost as deep in colour as a normal Cobalt and is sometimes brighter. A Skyblue Whitewing is shown on the left and a Violet Skyblue Whitewing on the right.   The presence of the violet factor in the Violet Skyblue has been proved by his progeny.   The only other way to ensure the presence of violet in a Violet Skyblue is to mate two birds both known to be carrying the factor (e.g. Violet Cobalt x Violet Cobalt or Violet Cobalt x Violet Skyblue) and any young that seem to be the normal Cobalt colour should be Violet Skyblue.

The Violet Cobalt is the budgerigar with the instantly recognizable Violet colour, although there are many shades as can be seen in the picture left.

The Violet Mauve shown on the left is deeper in colour and brighter and more purple than the Mauve on the right.

A Violet Light Green can appear to be a Dark Green or a light shade of Olive (no picture available).

When mature, a A Violet Dark Green (left) is like a normal Olive and a Violet Olive (right) is a dark almost yellowish Olive.   These sisters (from different rounds) are showing the typical violet wash which is very apparent in the flue area and can spread up to the mask.
As they mature their body colour will darken considerably and the violet wash will mostly disappear from the main body area.   The Violet Olive matures into a colour that I can best describe as a metallic bronze green which offsets the yellow of the wings beautifully

The hen on the left is the one pictured above right but now aged seven months.   Her older brother on the right is the young Violet Olive Yellow-wing cock pictured in the "Wings" section below but at 15 months.

 More pictures will be inserted here to demonstrate the differences between Violet and non-Violet birds.

Inheritance

As mentioned previously I do not advise the inexperienced to breed Violet to Violet because of the problems that can result. If you do and produce a bird with dirty wings and which is strongly Violet in appearance you might have bred a double factor Violet.

Body Colour Inheritance

I am including only pairings that will give a reasonable chance of producing Cobalts.

Whenever I am trying to predict the outcome of a pairing I think of the three factors separately. To estimate the chance of a Violet Cobalt Whitewing, first work out the colours likely to be produced and thus the chance of Cobalt. Then estimate the chance of it being a Whitewing and finally the chance of it being Violet. As an example using pairing 5 below

50% of each of three factors gives ½ x ½ x ½ = one eighth or 12½%.

The Dark Factor

You will see this factor referred to in the literature and it refers to the inheritance the shade of colour in terms of the Dark factors carried and ignores the actual colours involved.   It could equally well have been explained in terms of "Light", "Medium" and "Dark".

 

No dark factor x No dark factor	= 100% no dark factor
No dark factor x One dark factor	= 50% no dark & 50% one dark    factor
No dark factor x Double dark factor	= 100% one dark factor
One dark factor x One dark factor	= 25% none, 50% one & 25% double dark
One dark factor x Double dark factor	= 50% one & 50% double dark
Double dark x Double dark	= 100% double dark factor

You will see this pattern in the colour inheritance paragraph above.   Like many other basic rules, once understood they become second nature and are seldom thought of as such.

Pairings

Below are a few suggested pairings of birds, some of which you will not be able to obtain and some from those that you are most likely to be able to buy.   Some of the examples are a little over-simplified but should give you the idea of how to predict the outcome of the pairings and the theoretical percentage of Whitewing Violet Cobalt you might expect..   The examples aren't meant to be learnt - there is no exam at the end - but are given as a guide for when you are buying or thinking of pairing up.   The figures are long-run averages, and in the short term you can do better or worse than the average. I currently have a nest-box containing five Skyblues and one Cobalt when theoretically there should have been three of each. Sometimes chance works to your advantage and gives you a nest full of Whitewings but the downside is that the next nest could be full of Whites.

Examples

A pairing that will guarantee 100% Whitewing Violet Cobalt is

Violet Skyblue Whitewing (2F or 1F) x Violet Mauve Whitewing (1F or 2F)

The chances of you being able to purchase such birds are highly remote, even if you could recognize them if you saw them. If and when you breed such birds and know them for what they are, you won't need my advice on breeding Violet Whitewings and so I'm not including these in my suggestions.

The pairings below are of colours that you might well find available.

1. Whitewing Violet Cobalt (2F) x Whitewing Skyblue (2F) should give:

You can see from the above that, on average, this desirable pairing only produces one in four of what you want.   If you obtain these results, with no whites, you can assume that at least one of the birds claimed to be a pure Whitewing (2F) is just that - but there is no proof they both are!.

If one of the birds is split for White (1F), the outcome is the same visually but half of the birds will be /White (1F).   This is important to know when later pairing up the youngsters but you won't be able to tell which are split White or which aren't until you pair them!   Once again, if you produce no Whites you can assume one of the birds may be pure Whitewing (2F).

2. Whitewing Violet Cobalt/White x Whitewing Skyblue/White (both 1F)

From this very common pairing you will get, on average, 1 in 5 of what you are trying for and once again you won't be able to tell which are split and which aren't.

3. Whitewing Violet Cobalt 2F x White Skyblue

If you are lucky enough to obtain or breed a 2F Whitewing, it is very useful for pairing to Whites which have qualities you need.   This pairing produces 1 in 4 Violet Whitewings.   If the White happens to be a Violet Cobalt , you will expect all Violets and half of them Cobalt,
a good pairing if the birds are right.

4. Whitewing Violet Cobalt/White 1F x White Skyblue

This pairing only produces 1 in 8 but I have used it when both birds had particular qualities I was trying to develop, and Violet Whites can be useful).

5. Yellow-wing Light Green/Blue (2F) x Whitewing Violet Cobalt (2F)

This pairing also produces 1 in 8, and if both birds are split for White (1F) this is reduced even further.   However, this pairing produces the very useful Violet Yellow-wing Dark Green/Blue Type II (see 6 below) that is recognizable in the nest-box of the above pairing because it appears to be an Olive - but this is impossible from the pairing.   It may also have a blue/violet wash to its flue feathers.

6. Yellow-wing Violet Dark Green/Blue II (2F) x Whitewing Skyblue (2F)

This pairing is very useful giving as it does 1 in 5 Whitewing Violet Cobalts but you need to ensure that the Dark/Green/Blue is Type II, i.e., the dark factor was inherited from the Blue parent (the Cobalt).   If the dark factor is inherited from the Green Parent, (the Dark Green), and is thus a Dark Green/Blue Type I, then the outcome is completely different and not worth bothering with for this purpose.   So you have to be sure of the parentage of your Dark Green/Blues - breed them yourself or place your trust in your supplier!   A Whitewing/Dilute (1F) will produce the same visual outcome but when both parents are split the outcome will be halved, i.e., only 1 in 10.

My Favourites

I have used just about every combination that produces Violet Whitewings and my favourite is the one which produces the best Violet Whitewing, and that could be from any combination!
Perhaps the best to produce the greatest number and which may be available is

Whitewing Violet Cobalt x Whitewing Cobalt

Some of the most beautiful birds I have bred, with a deep Violet body colour and very clear wings, came from the pairing

Whitewing Violet Cobalt x Violet Cobalt White

The offspring of this pairing however has never produced in turn offspring as good looking as themselves and I suspect that they never will.   Perhaps this pairing should be reserved to produce birds that you are going to show, sell or just look at for their beauty!   I was sorely tempted by the emerging qualities of the Violet Cobalt White pictured in the "Basic Advice" section above to try the same pairing again though just to try and recreate the wonderful colour achieved last time.   In the meantime, I've paired his father, a Violet Skyblue cock, to a Violet Cobalt White hen - and in early April 2000 I have fertile eggs - can't wait!
In 2005 and 2006 I am still breeding with the father's line and two of the Violet chicks in the picture on the right at the beginning of this article were bred from one of his grandsons.   The good colour and wing clarity have been maintained but size is not as good as it was.
In 2006 I have succumbed to temptation again and have two breeding cages with the same colour pairings, with both hens coming from the same line but the cocks coming from lines carrying better exhibition qualities.

Developing and Improving

Malcolm Freemantle wrote about the difficulties inherent in improving this variety, and I suggest that two of the most important qualities you will need are patience and "stickability".   It is no coincidence that those winning awards at Championship shows have bred Clearwings for many years and concentrate mainly on this variety, sometimes to the exclusion of all others (where have I heard that before?).   If you're looking for a quick solution to winning on the show bench you've picked the wrong variety - there's no such thing as shoving "best to best" in a cage and then sorting out into which class you're going to show the youngsters.   Even Champions with a reputation for improving the standard of other recessive varieties have decided not to try the same with Clearwings because of the difficulties involved.   Probably the strongest indication of the difficulties involved is that you do not see in this variety those described by Gwyn Evans as the "win at all costs" and "short stay" fanciers.   It is rumoured however that a winner of many awards in recent years has purchased some Clearwings - so perhaps my assertion will be tested soon.
From my point of view it is the almost infinite potential for improvement that is the great attraction - the journey being far more interesting than arrival.
My programme of improvement in 1998 and 1999 has been concentrated mainly on trying to improve the exhibition qualities (size, head and feather qualities and style) using the family of Whites mentioned above.   During 1999 I have however also been trying to ensure that I have birds strong in body colour and clear in wing to pair with the offspring from the White family which tend to be weak in these two respects.   Early in 2000 I have some Violet Cobalt Whitewing youngsters with good body colour and clear wings, a couple of which are showing reasonable head qualities.   They were bred from a Violet Olive split Blue split Dilute cock with good body colour and wings paired to a pale White Skyblue (daughter the White with the best head).
Something seems to have worked!

Internal v External

Try to establish your own lines initially.   That way you will become familiar with the hidden qualities in your birds, and by giving careful thought to pairings you should be able to fix some of the better qualities you observe, and be able to predict the outcome with some degree of certainty.   You may be able to make good improvements over time from within your own stock.
However, if you are deficient in certain qualities then you might well have to obtain an outcross.   If the original supplier of your birds has something that is strong in the qualities you're short of, and which appears to have no bad qualities that might set you back, I suggest you stand a better chance of improvement with this than if you go to another source.   It's very tempting to try and accumulate attractive birds from various sources but the chances of a good result from these are far less than with birds that come from the same lines.   Having said that, there comes a point when no improvement is made and then you have to go elsewhere.
When you do you might well find that no progress is made for a time until the qualities from both lines start to gel.   One way around this problem, if you have the space, is to keep distinct lines of your own and only cross them when the better qualities of one are required in the other.

Priorities

The priority you give to the development and improvement of the various factors that go to make up the Violet Cobalt Clearwing will be personal.   It will depend on, for example, whether you are breeding purely for pleasure or for exhibiting.   Colour and clarity of wing will be the principle concerns of the former, while the showman will have to consider the bird as an exhibition type budgerigar as well.   It is important that you set priorities so that you only keep those youngsters that can make an improvement in their turn.   With so many factors combined you can get swamped by birds which, although perhaps are as good as their parents, offer no prospect for improvement.

Wings

I retain birds with especially clear wings (provided they're not Joeys) as I have found this essential quality easy to lose, particularly when using the violet and dark factors in combination.   The other side of this coin is that I dispose of birds with dirty wings unless they have excellent qualities in other respects.   By taking this approach it is then possible to take advantage of the excellent qualities of the dirty-winged bird by pairing it to one with clear wings, hopefully producing at least one youngster with the excellent qualities and the clear wings.   It is unlikely that a bird with very clear wings will be bred from two birds with dirty wings.   You may have to use Whites or Yellow-wings or even Yellows to clean up your wings and this might mean that the improvements take three generations or so to get into your Violet Whitewings.   I find this one of the fascinating aspects of the hobby but good record keeping is essential for this long drawn out process to be successful.

The Whitewings above were seven/eight weeks old and were a little dirty from enjoying themselves in the sand in the stock cage.   I keep them there until they are about twelve weeks and then put them out in the flight.   The Yellow-wings were a month older and just about ready for the flight. They all have the clarity of wing and depth of body colour that I am looking for, and I think that the young cock on the right might turn out to be something special.   (I wrote this in early 1999.   In early in 2000,- the young cock on the left is the first son of the Yellow-wing on the right and a White Skyblue hen which is a daughter of the large- headed White shown in paragraph 6 of "Basic Advice" above).
Ten years later (2006), the result of preserving the bloodlines that were responsible for the birds in the first four pictures can be seen in the two pictures on the right of the first chick bred in 2006 at four weeks old - I think it is quite stunning!   Some of last year's Whitewings from the same family also have clear bright wings and I will post pictures later.

The body colour will deepen and harden as they mature but, regrettably, there is a tendency for the wings to darken as they get older as can be seen below in one of my favourites.

Body Colour

If a sufficient number of birds with the required wing clarity are held, then the next priority should be to improve body colour. The solidity and depth of colour of a bird is an essential element of the contrast that is a basic requirement of the variety.   The young cock on the left is just coming out of his first moult and is already showing the depth and brightness of colour I am trying to achieve.   I keep one or two Normals these days to remind me of the ideal body colour - it's very easy to gradually lose body colour over time in the constant quest for clearer wings. Never pair together two birds with pale or patchy colour and try to use at least one bird carrying the dark factor in pairings e.g., Skyblue and Cobalt or Skyblue and Mauve.   "Dipping in the Green" is a term used to describe the technique of using greens to improve the colour of blues and a Yellow-wing with excellent body colour might well achieve this effect - the one on the right seems to have a solid enough colour.   It is however possible to breed Whitewings with intense body colour from birds that have never seen a green!   Certainly use a Yellow-wing cross to improve colour, but only if it offers a greater solidity and depth of colour and perhaps an extra brightness than is carried by your blues.   Keep your eyes open for a Yellow-wing with a hard buttercup yellow wing colour as opposed to the softer primrose shade which is more common.
This wing colour is sometimes combined with a more intensive ground colour (yellow) which sometimes shows through the green of the chest.   I have been using such a bird obtained from John Monks and have bred in 2000 some very clear-winged and very bright Yellow-wings.   They are split blue and I will be most interested to see if, when these are paired to Whitewings, the brightness, clarity and contrast is passed on to the Whitewings produced.

I will be posting more pictures here of birds that I consider to have good body colour.

Try to concentrate on improving one feature at a time as if you try more than one you could find that you have achieved an improvement in one but a deterioration in one or more others.
If you keep more than one line you can develop wing clarity and body colour simultaneously and if you have a bird that excels in both qualities so much the better - put it to everything you can as often as you can!

Exhibition Qualities

Deliberately setting out to improve the many and various factors that go to make up an exhibition budgerigar in a Violet Whitewing is an extremely difficult long-term project.   So many of the factors clash!   Recessive varieties tend to be smaller than dominant ones and blues tend to be smaller than greens.   The violet and dark factors both tend to reduce size.
Buff feathering is admired in exhibition birds and is responsible for some of their size, but kills the body colour in Clearwings as does Grey, which is a shame as good Greys and Grey Greens are often available.   One leading exhibitor in the UK has been winning with a Grey Green Yellow-wing, but, much as I admire the bird as a budgerigar, it falls far short of my ideal Clearwing because of its lack of brightness, clarity and contrast.   Progress can be made by selective breeding but improving head, mask, size, feather etc., is limited by the qualities your birds possess.

Eventually you will have to acquire those qualities your birds are lacking.   Just what you obtain depends to a certain extent on how far advanced your birds are.   If you are, for example, a regularly exhibiting Champion, you already know that further improvement by selective breeding is usually by very small increments.   Any noticeable change can probably only be achieved by using perhaps a top quality Normal hen or a Dilute hen bred from Normals, and then coping with the problems that arise (hens cannot be split for unwanted sex-linked factors).
You may also be lucky as I have been with the Whites I am using.   The picture is of a six-week old youngster from one of them, just out of the nest box (January 2000) and showing some of the head and face qualities I have been trying to develop - they are not too common in Clearwings!   Although not a Whitewing, and it doesn't have the clearest of wings, if it fulfills its early promise and survives, it will form part of my development programme in late 2000.   At 10 weeks he was still looking good but his head started breaking before I got around to taking more pictures - and in April 2000 he looks awful - he's at the stage that makes one doubt early assessments!

If you are not at the top of the tree then there is still probably a lot of scope for improving your birds as budgerigars by obtaining Clearwings with some better features than those possessed by your own.   You may not be able to get the colours you want but getting the desired qualities is the important step, the interesting task of breeding them into your lines is up to you.
While it is difficult, if not impossible, to buy top show birds, related birds are often available and these can be the source of the improvement you're seeking.   Don't be put off by appearances, as a dirty scruffy bird may be carrying hidden qualities and at this stage blood is more important then good looks!   Decide on the qualities you're after, be they head, mask, feather or whatever, and concentrate on them.   Using these qualities in producing better attractive Clearwings is again down to you.   I was once given just such a dirty scruffy bird that was also a "runner" (a bird suffering "french moult").   I won't embarrass the breeder who gave it to me (but it was from the family of the winner of the Yellow-wing CC at the 1993 Club Show).   It only sired a couple of youngsters but from those I developed a line that now produces some of my best birds and is also very fertile - there's a whole story in this bird and his offspring but that's for another day.

Conclusion

It's difficult to believe when you're start beavering away trying to produce one or two Violet Whitewings that it is possible to have too many of them!   When you have plenty of Violet Whitewings but also a lot of Whitewings that are either Cobalt or Violet Skyblues and you can't tell the difference between them you might have reached this point.   Other indications are that many of your Whitewings may have dirty wings and/or you may have a lot of Whitewing Mauves and few (if any) Whitewing Skyblues.

I believe that you must keep a balance between violet and non-violet, and dark factor and non-dark.   It's also possible to have too many Whites and, if you use Yellow-wings, your Blues can soon be swamped by them and Yellows.   Keeping a balance requires constant management and review to prevent one or more of the factors and/or varieties subsidiary to the main Violet Whitewing becoming dominant.

Having given the bad news, the good news is that I still get great delight when I see the first hint of Violet peeping through in the first breaking tail feathers, and then again when the wing and flight feathers as they develop are of unmarked white.   I hope the picture below shows something of what I mean. 

Last updated 24 June 2006

Copyright © 1998 -2006 John W Evans

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