Agapornis Yellowface Mutations / Yellow Intens Lovebird

Yellowface or Yellow intense has not yet been officially registered by ornithogenetics due to several reasons that I am not aware of. However, this phenotype is indeed a true mutation. Many breeders have worked with Fischeri Yellowface and have recorded consistent inheritance patterns in subsequent generations. Several mutation combinations already exist, including opaline yellowface and pallid yellowface. Isn't this a significant requirement for a phenotype to be recognized as a mutation?

The Agapornis Yellowface was first discovered in Australia, based on observations from an Australian breeder's Instagram account named Aldens. The first post was recorded on August 21, 2016. Therefore, some people still refer to it as the Australian Yellowface. After that, many lovebird breeders from Indonesia around the year 2020 brought it to exhibitions for the first time.

At that time, the phenotype was already in combination mode with NSLino - Lutino Yellowface. Meanwhile, Australian breeders already had a complete range of pastel, green, and even combinations with the Dark Factor.

Characteristics of the Agapornis Fischeri Yellowface Green

The following are the basic characteristics of the Yellowface Green Agapornis, which is the basic phenotype before it is combined with various other mutations. This description of characteristics should serve as the main foundation for selective breeding. With a strong and accurate foundation of characteristics, any future combination with mutations will be fine.

Forehead: brilliant Yellow.
Crown: bronze-green, lighter in colour towards the nape.
Cheeks: brilliant yellow with bronze-green transition zone towards the nape. This transition zone runs downwards at the center of the eye.
Chin, throat and upper breast: brilliant Yellow.
Eyes: dark brown with unfeathered white eye-ring.
Beak: Yellow. Lower chest, flanks, belly and anal region: green.
Mantle and wing feathers: a shade darker than the rest of the body.
Primary flight feathers: green outer flag and blue-black inner flag.
Wing bends: yellow.
Rump and upper tail coverts: violet.
Under tail coverts: green.
Tail feathers: the tail feathers are predominantly green with a blue tip.
The secondary tail feathers have a brilliant yellow spot drawing in the middle. This spot drawing is partially surrounded by a black zone.
Legs: grey.
Nails: a shade darker grey than the feet.

Fischeri Yellowface is born with bright yellow feathers, which are clearly distinguishable and very different from normal green, aqua, or blue1blue2/parblue feathers. They are very yellow.

Genetic of the Agapornis Fischeri Yellowface

I believe that the Fischeri Yellowface still adheres to the PPR (Partial Psittacine Reduction) mutation group. This can be seen from the reduced intensity of the red psittacine in the mask and tail feathers. As a result, a very dominant golden yellow color is visible.

Meanwhile, the color of the body feathers remains normal, just like the green fischeri. The red psittacine in the Fischeri Yellowface is completely lost or reduced by the control gene, which indicates that the combination that can be achieved with yellowface is only in mutations that still have red and yellow psittacine in their feathers.

Agapornis Personatus Yellowface

Yellowface is a natural mutation of Agapornis Fischeri. When it appears in the Personatus species, it is a process of transmutation. The only change in Agapornis Personatus Yellowface is the color of the beak, which turns orange, compared to red in the wild type. However, you need to be careful, as the red mark under the chin, which is a characteristic of the Personatus hybrid, is not very visible here.

You will only find yellow coloring on the collar, or a slight orange tint on the lower part of the chin as a sign of hybridization.

Perhaps the combination with Fischeri Aqua is still within the corridor and forms a blue series with a predominantly yellow mask, rather than orange as in normal aqua. Or perhaps with blue1blue2, where the mutation still contains red and yellow psitacine, so that the Yellowface gene can still work and show results.

This will make blue1blue2 more fluorescent yellow on the mask. The beak will also be more yellow, instead of orange as is normal for blue1blue2/parblue. Crossbreeding with blue1, or what was formerly called the blue mutation, is certainly not recommended, because blue is CPR (Complete Psittacine Reduction), meaning that both red and yellow psittacine have been completely eliminated.

Therefore, the phenotypic effect of the Fischeri Yellowface gene will not be apparent in Fischeri Blue Yellowface. Although genetically, this bird does carry the yellowface gene and can pass it on if the right crossbreeding occurs later.

Crossbreeding with the melanin reduction mutation group is highly recommended in this case. Because it hardly reduces the aesthetics of the Fischeri Yellowface. The inheritance mode of Fischeri Yellowface is autosomal recessive, so you must cross both parents that carry the Yellowface carrier gene, even if it is in the “split” position. Fischeri Yellowface X Green has the potential to produce Green/Yellowface in its first generation.

Therefore, you must work twice as hard. Hopefully, the Fischeri Yellowface will soon gain recognition from ornithologists and geneticists and be given an official or international name so that there is no confusion in its designation, as is currently the case. This phenotype also exists in the Roseicollis lovebird, which is called the Orange Face. Whether the Fischeri will also be given the same name or not remains to be seen.