A wild-blue mutant of the Orange-chinned Parakeet (Brotogeris jugularis) from Colombia

Abstract

We report an aberrant, blue-colored, Orange-chinned Parakeet from a population inhabiting an urban area in Colombia. This is the first documented record of a wild-blue mutant for this species through its natural distributional range. Our observations suggest that this mutation occurs at a very low frequency in this population and does not appear to display any selective advantage that could drive a frequency change.

Keywords

• aberrant coloration
• feather pigments
• psittacofulvin
• structural coloration