|
MISSION |
Is
it possible to breed a clear-winged Yellow-wing or Whitewing budgerigar without
sacrificing other exhibition features?
RAY
STEELE investigates
Ray Steele from Yorkshire is a Champion
breeder with more than 40 years' experience.
Over the years he has consistently
bred and exhibited high class budgerigars and has won many of the top awards
many times. He does not breed Clearwings but is giving his views
as a respected, knowledgeable and experienced fancier and judge.!
Clearwing is a collective term that covers Yellow-wing and Whitewing budgerigars. Yellow-wings are the Clearwings of the green series, namely light green, dark green, olive and grey green, while Whitewings are of the blue series - Skyblue, Cobalt, Mauve, Violet and Grey. The mutation occurred in Australia in the 1930s and the clarity of the Clearwings from that continent has become a legend in budgerigar circles. However, as far as Europe is concerned, the description "clearwing" is something of a misnomer.
Some of the first Clearwings that
came to Britain in the late 1930s were said to have had clear wings, but others
displayed grey markings. Their wing markings were described as being
"variable", but precious few have been devoid of grey markings since.
The reality is that I have never seen a Clearwing of exhibition
quality that did not show wing markings. Indeed, the combination of clear wings
and top exhibition quality in other respects has not been achieved.
Although
the most ardent supporters of the variety will not enjoy reading that statement,
in their heart of hearts they will know that it is accurate. True,
there have been Clearwings that have won top prizes in open competition in the
UK, but they did so for their overall quality.
They
did not have unmarked wings. Judges recognised that it is extremely difficult
to produce even a reasonably marked, large Clearwing. If Clearwing
specialists think I am wrong, it is in their power to demonstrate this by benching
a specimen of similar quality to the normal classes at the same show - but with
spotless wings. If they do that, no one will be more pleased than
I to publish a retraction.
One of the problems that Clearwing breeders always
face, when their birds come up against normal varieties such as Grey Greens
for top awards, is that Clearwings are easily faulted on the grounds that their
markings do not match the standard required.
The variety has been improved greatly in recent years, but the advances have been in size, head quality and feather texture - at the expense of clear wings. Generally, the clearer a Clearwing's wings, the poorer it tends to be in other exhibition features. So there is little points, from the exhibition point of view, in pairing currently available clear-winged Clearwings together. The wings of their progeny may become clearer, but their heads and overall size will reduce with each generation. As far as the Clearwing to Clearwing matings are concerned, it is better to pair birds that combine a degree of wing markings with other good exhibition points.
Perhaps the best pairing of all is a top-quality dilute Yellow. Some years ago, when my stud consisted mainly of Lutinos and Yellows, there was great demand for Yellows from Clearwing breeders. As dilutes are the most recessive of all the budgerigar mutations, the Clearwing x Yellow mating has the advantage of producing Clearwings in the first generation.
A more time consuming method is to pair a Clearwing with a top-quality Normal. The first generation of chicks will all be Normal split Clearwing. Pairing one of the Normal split Clearwings with a Clearwing will produce Clearwings and Normal split Clearwings. Although the stature of these second generation Clearwings should have improved, there can be no guarantee, or even expectation, that their wings will be more lightly marked than those of the original Clearwing in this breeding programme.
Clearwing breeders are to be admired for persisting in what some see as an impossible task. Theirs is a challenge that has defeated many a good budgerigar breeder. The breeder of the clear-winged Yellow-wing or Whitewing that can match the size and heads of the best Grey Greens will command the respect of knowledgeable budgerigar fanciers everywhere.