Red factor.

[Amber]

Since I found a bit of red in Tuki's wing feather, I've been looking on the internet, and found some pics of pretty red factors. This one has to be my favourite though!

 

http://photos-e.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sctm/v203/46/26/662066440/n662066440_686252_8688.jpg

[Amber]

Is it possible for greys to mate with other species? (Like an electus or something?) I know the red factor does appear in greys, but could it also be caused by crosses? :huh:

[BMustee]

Amber wrote:

Is it possible for greys to mate with other species? (Like an electus or something?) I know the red factor does appear in greys, but could it also be caused by crosses? :huh:

 

No, it is not possible for the grey to hybridize with any other species of parrot...they are not related close enough. A Scarlet Macaw can breed with a Blue and Gold Macaw and produce a Catalina Hybrid, or a Military to make a Shamrock, or even a Buffons to make a Verde Macaw, but no macaw can cross with lets say an Amazon parrot. Finches are the same way. An Owl finch can cross with a Zebra finch because there are enough similar genes to produce offspring, but the offspring will be sterile like that of the offspring of a horse and a donkey because there are not enough similar genes to produce a fully functional baby. Although the owl finch can breed with a zebra finch they can not breed with another popular Aussie, the Star finch...not enough shared genes.

 

The Red Factor in greys is caused by an excess of caritoid genes...which causes the red variation. It is not caused by cross breeding, but by genetics like albinos.

[Amber]

Thanks a lot for clearing that up for me!