Gouldian Finch Color Mutations
Today you can find many different gouldian finch color mutations available for sale. Back color can be green, yellow, blue, or even white, also known as silver. Chest color can be purple, white, or lilac. This wasn’t always the case. The original wild type gouldian finches are all green back, and purple chest. While head colors haven’t changed much (other than in blue and silver mutations), the percentage of these colors has changed. In the wild 70% of gouldians have black heads, approximately 29% have red heads, and just 1% have yellow (orange color) heads. Our largest seller of gouldian finches are red head birds, and our smallest number are black head, with orange in the middle.
Below, you’ll find a brief overview of the different color mutations in gouldian finches.
- Green Back Gouldian Finches- This is the traditional “wild type” gouldian back color. Males will normally be brighter than female birds.
- Yellow Back Gouldian Finches- This gouldian finch mutation will have a yellow back. Brightness will vary between individuals. Typically males will be brighter than females, however with this mutation color can vary greatly from almost a lime green to a bright sunshine yellow. The head and chest color of the birds somewhat influences the brightness in my experience; and usually white chested and black head (this will appear grey or white in yellow mutations) are more brightly colored on the back.
- Blue Back Gouldian Finches- This gouldian finch mutation will have a blue colored back. Males are normally brighter than females. White chest and black head birds tend to be slightly brighter in color than other mutations in my experience.
- Silver Back Gouldian Finches- This gouldian finch mutation will have a white colored back. Males and females in this mutation can be very difficult to distinguish especially when the breast color is white. Silver birds are created with a combination of blue and yellow back mutation genetics.
A wonderful site to view how gouldian finch genetics work is this color calculator. I still use this from time to time as it is difficult to remember all the genetic “rules” and outcomes! Visit our shop page to view what mutations we have available today!