Warning, extreme genetic geekery ahead. Don’t get too excited because these mutations aren’t very likely to happen, and there’s nothing we can do to make it happen using natural breeding processes. But: I think it’s possible to get natural mutations that would give us green and red colors in cockatiels.

I’ve been reading up on genetics in general and parrot-family mutations in particular. All living things have a lot of the same DNA, and closely related species have a lot more of the same genes. I’ve read that humans are about 80% genetically identical to a bacterium, and about 98% identical to a chimpanzee.

The exact percentages for parrots probably haven’t been determined, but it seems likely that they’re about 98% genetically identical to each other too. There are a lot of color mutations that work exactly the same way in all parrot species – it’s the same gene changing in a way that gives the same results. A lutino cockatiel, lutino budgie, and lutino lovebird all have a mutation of the same gene.

Now it starts getting more technical. There are 3 main sources of color in parrots: grey/black/brown pigments (melanin), red/yellow pigments (psittacin), and structural color (a physical characteristic in the feathers that creates an optical illusion, making melanin look like green or blue color to our eyes). Most parrots have all 3 color sources but the cockatoos only have the 2 color pigments – they don’t have structural color so you see the real color of the melanin.

There are mutations that affect structural color in other species though. Some make the structural color change to a darker shade of green, blue, or even purple. But there’s one mutation called the Greygreen mutation that makes structural color disappear completely, and you see the real color of the melanin (grey). Greygreen isn’t considered to be a mutation for cockatiels, it’s their normal color. My guess is that their ancestors may have started out green but then the greygreen mutation appeared and it worked for them and became their normal color. But it’s theoretically possible for it to mutate back into the form that would activate the structural color and give a cockatiel the same kind of green that many other parrots have. From there it would be a short step to blue (just add the whiteface gene to take all the yellow out) and a variety of tones in the green/blue/purple spectrum.

Red might be easier to get. There are different variations of psittacin pigment that produce yellow, orange, red, pink, etc. It’s my understanding that the two main forms are yellow and red, and everything else is a modification of these two. Cockatiels already have some orange, and with the right mutation it might be possible to turn it into true red. There are already some cockatoo species that have red/pink pigment, like the Major Mitchell’s, rose-breasted (galah), the gang gang, and the red-tailed black cockatoo. There's a closer genetic relationship between cockatiels and the other cockatoos than there is between cockatiels and the parrots with green coloring. So getting some red color might not be as big of a mutation as getting some green.

You have the gift of explaining the complicated stuff in a way I can understand it too - well, most of it.
I remember asking in TC the question whether mutations happen "by mistake", pure chance, or in a lab, and the unanimous reply was "pure chance".
This post makes me wonder if it wouldn't actually be a possibility setting up a lab to try produce new mutations that, while they are possible, it would take years and years and an incredible amount of luck to get.

In the not so distant future they'll probably start doing it in the lab, and not by chance either. Gene identification and genetic engineering are here. Right now it's not likely that parrot genes have been studied enough that someone could point to a specific piece of DNA and say "this is the part that causes structural color to be present or not present". But they'll probably get to that point eventually, and once they get there it'll be fairly easy to take a gene that is switched 'on' for structural color out of a bird like a budgie, and stick it into a cockatiel. Then many or all of the areas that are currently grey will be a bright budgie green. I'm not actually in favor of tampering with a species for entertainment purposes this way, but on the other hand it would be really cool to have a green cockatiel.

Oh this is so exciting...
You've written it very clearly thanks

I have incredibly mixed feelings about it.
While adding a new colour might not be the end of the world, when you open the doors to genetic modification a lot of other stuff gets through that same door.
It's a bit like in humans. While I am all in favour of research that aims to eradicate or cure genetic illnesses, I am scared of all the other types of manipulations that will inevitably follow.
It's such a controversial issue

Well the door is already starting to open and all we can do is wait and see what happens next.

I'm not really sure whether I like the photoshopped green cockatiel or not. The colors are the same as a lot of natural parrot species but it looks so freakin' weird to me because that's not a natural color for a tiel, and I can't really imagine seeing a green tiel in real life. If somebody did produce one (either through a lucky natural mutation or in the lab) I suppose we'd get used to it after a while. I've read that the first person to get a whiteface tiel thought it was ugly because it didn't have the pretty face colors, and didn't realize what an incredible breeding opportunity it was.

My weird sense of humor is at work again. It would be funny if I put the green cockatiel in the banner. That would make visitors to the forum do a double take lol.

I agree to the green cockatiel on the banner!!!! If you could give him blue feet it would be even cooler ahahahh
Maybe tone the green down a tad, and people will really think that it's a new mutation

I posted the green cockatiel picture on some other boards and got some interesting genetic-geek commentary on the American Cockatiel Society's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/acstiel ... 785216044/ For example, powder down interferes with the ability of feathers to reflect green light. It makes sense, but I never would have thought of it on my own.