ALBINO BUDGIES [Breeding, Sexing, Diet, Care, Ino Mutation]

What is an albino budgie? An albino budgie is a relatively rare blue series white budgie with the ino gene, a sex-linked recessive gene that inhibits melanin production.

The average albino budgie has red eyes, an orange beak, silvery-white cheeks, no dark or colored markings, and the tail and wings have white color.

Inhibition of melanin production removes the budgie’s black markings and blue colors and causes the budgie to become entirely white in appearance.

According to WBO standards, a budgie should not have any blue color suffusion throughout to be counted as an albino budgie.

How to identify (recognize) an albino budgie?

An albino budgie is one of the easiest to recognize than other budgie varieties. White body color makes albino budgies easy to identify.

Here is a table containing albino budgie characteristics to help recognize the albino budgies.

General body-color	White, clear & free from all markings.
Mask	White, clear & free from all markings.
Markings	No markings
Cere	Fleshy pink, purple in males, and white, pale blue, and tan (bronze) in females.
Beak	Orange colored
Eyes	Red or pink-colored with iris rings
Cheek patches	Silvery-white
Primary wing flights	White
Primary tail feathers	White
Feet & legs	Fleshy pink

Albino colors and markings

Albino budgies have no black and blue color markings. The ino gene that albino budgies have removes the blue and black pigmentation from the body and makes albino budgies’ bodies pure white.

In some conditions, an albino budgie has an active-visual cinnamon gene. This gene combination may give female budgie pale brown markings.

Albino budgie legs and beak

Both female and male albino budgies have orange beaks and pinkish legs.

The ino gene also removes most melanin pigmentation from all body areas.

Albino budgie cere color

Albino budgies have a slightly different cere color than normal budgies.

Female albino budgies have primarily white and light blue cere color variations. Female budgies have tan (brown, bronze) cere color with a crusty surface during breeding seasons.

Male albino budgies have fleshy pink and purple cere. They may have slightly darker cere colors during the breeding seasons than in regular seasons.

Albino budgie with red eyes

Albino budgies have red, pink, ruby-colored eyes with iris rings.

The ino gene plays an essential role in forming the eye color of the albino budgerigar. The ino gene removes the black pigments in the albino budgie’s eyes. The absence of black pigments causes the blood flow in the eyes of albino budgies to be visible from the outside. Thus, albino budgies have red eyes.

Can an albino budgie have black eyes?

All albino budgies have an ino gene that makes eyes red by removing black pigments. So, albino budgies can’t have black eyes.

If a yellow budgie has black eyes, that means most likely the budgie is a dark-eyed clear budgie or double factor spangle budgie.

Albino budgie care

Albino budgies need similar care as other budgie variations.

Albino budgie diet and nutrition

Albino budgies need a diet that includes seeds, vegetables, and fruits. They require clean water daily.

Albino budgie owners should avoid seed-only diets that cause malnutrition in the body.

Albino budgie’s health problems

Albino budgerigar owners should pay attention to the following to avoid health problems with their albino budgies:

1. Regular veterinarian visits.
2. A complete diet includes seeds, vegetables, and fruits.
3. Keeping cages clean.
4. Keeping away from new human and animal visitors.
5. Trimming overgrown beaks and nails.
6. Avoiding stress
7. Providing regular bath sessions.

Genetics

Albino budgies have different genetics than normal budgies. An albino budgie has a white-colored body caused by a gene called “Ino.”

What is ino gene mutation?

The Ino gene mutation is a sex-linked recessive mutation that removes the budgerigars’ body’s primary color (green variants or blue variants) and markings, leaving them with their body base color (yellow or white).

What the ino gene does is listed as follows:

1. The ino gene removes primary colors such as green, blue, olive green, sky blue, and violet from the body.
2. The ino gene removes the black melanin pigment from the eyes. The eyes of the budgerigar turn red.
3. The ino gene removes the black pigments from the beak and gives the budgie an orange beak.
4. The ino gene removes skin pigments and gives fleshy pink legs and skin budgies.

The ino gene is a sex-linked mutation. The ino gene is transferred by the X chromosome.

The ino gene is a recessive gene mutation.

A male albino budgie has two ino genes, and a female albino budgie has one ino gene.

What is split albino budgie?

A split albino budgie is a male albino budgie with a single ino gene that is a recessive and X chromosome-linked gene. A male albino budgie must have two ino genes to show albino characteristics. Split albino budgies do not show albino characteristics and may transfer the ino gene to the next generations.

Albino budgie breeding

Albino budgies are popular with breeders because of their beautiful white-only coloration.

How to breed albino budgies?

Breeders need a budgie with the ino genes to produce an albino budgie.

Because the ino gene is sex-linked and recessive, breeders know which budgies to use to produce albino budgies.

The ino gene is transmitted on the X chromosome. Males have 2 X chromosomes, and females have one X chromosome. For a baby male budgie to become an albino budgerigar, it must receive two ino genes from both parents. For a baby female budgie to become an albino budgerigar, it must receive one ino gene from its parents.

Because of the different parent pairings, breeders encounter multiple possibilities when trying to breed albino budgies.

Albino budgie breeding expectations (with table)

Albino budgie breeding expectations table is as follows.

Pairing	Results/Expectations
Albino Male + Albino Female	100% albino chicks
Albino Male + Normal Female	50% normal/albino males, 50% albino females
Normal Male + Albino Female	50% normal/albino males, 50% normal females
Normal/Albino Male + Normal Female	25% normal males, 25% normal/albino males, 25% albino females, 25% normal females

What’s the difference between an albino budgie and a lutino budgie?

Both albino and lutino budgies have ino genes. The albino budgie is the blue series budgie, while the lutino budgie is the green series budgie.

Body part	Lutino	Albino
General body-color	Rich buttercup yellow, clear & free from all markings.	White, clear & free from all markings.
Mask	Rich buttercup yellow, clear & free from all markings.	White, clear & free from all markings.
Markings	No markings	No markings
Cere	Fleshy pink, purple in males, and white, pale blue, and tan (bronze) in females.	Fleshy pink, purple in males, and white, pale blue, and tan (bronze) in females.
Beak	Orange colored	Orange colored
Eyes	Red or pink-colored with iris rings	Red or pink-colored with iris rings
Cheek patches	Silvery-white	Silvery-white
Primary wing flights	Yellowish white (Paler yellow)	White
Primary tail feathers	Yellowish white (Paler yellow)	White
Feet & legs	Fleshy pink	Fleshy pink

What’s the difference between a creamino budgie and an albino budgie?

Albino budgie is a blue series budgie with an ino gene, while creamino budgie is also a blue series budgie with an ino gene and goldenface or yellowface mutation.

Albino and creamino budgie have the same characteristics, but different body colors. Albino budgies have white body colors, while creamino budgies have light cream to deep yellow body colors, depending on the mutations of the goldenface or yellowface. Goldenface creamino budgies have deep yellow body color, while yellowface creamino budgies have light cream body color.

How to tell if an albino budgie is male or female? (Sexing an albino parakeet)

It is hard to determine whether an albino budgie is male or female, but it is not impossible. It is harder to determine the sex in albino budgie chicks.

It is easier to tell the sex when albino budgies reach their first breeding season.

Male albino budgies have a slightly darker cere color than typical cere colors (pink or purple) during the breeding seasons. Female albino budgies have tan-bronze cere color with a crusty surface than their standard cere colors (light blue, white) during the breeding seasons.

How long do albino budgies live?

Albino budgies have a lifespan of between 5-15 years with proper human care in captivity, while they have 4-6 years in the wild.

How to tell the age of an albino budgie?

It is difficult to tell the age of an albino parakeet once the budgerigar has entered adulthood. After the first puberty, the only indicator is the budgie’s cere color and texture.

There is no cere color and texture transformation before adulthood.

If a male baby albino budgie starts to have a darker cere color (blue to a deeper blue, pink to a deeper pink) than always, that means the budgie is around six months old.

If a female baby albino budgie starts to have a tan (bronze, brown) cere color with a crusty surface, the budgie is over six months old.

Are all albino budgies female? (Can albino budgies be male?)

An albino budgie can be male or female without any problem. There is no such thing as “All albino budgies are female” or “An albino budgie can’t be male.”

Are albino budgies rare?

To be an albino budgie, a blue series budgie needs to obtain ino genes from the parent, but not all budgies have ino genes. So, albino budgies are relatively rarer than other budgie varieties.

However, the breeders choose to breed the albino budgies especially. The situation causes the albino population grows over time in the total budgie population worldwide.

What does albino mean in birds?

“Albino” refers to a situation in which an animal exhibits a white-only pigmentation.

Can albino budgies talk?

Albino budgies can talk without any problems. A well-trained budgie can talk around 1000 words.

Are there albino lutino budgies?

No, there is no such a budgie variety as albino lutino budgie. Both albino and lutino varieties have ino genes; however, the albino budgie is a blue series budgie, while the lutino budgie is a green series budgie. A budgie can’t be a green series and blue series simultaneously.

Albino exhibition budgies

Albino budgies have been popular around breeders and fanciers for a long time.

The competitions and exhibitions always welcome albino budgies.

Here are some exhibition albino budgie photos:

Albino lacewing budgie

An albino lacewing budgie has the ino gene and the cinnamon gene at the same time. Both mutations must be visually active to be an albino lacewing budgie.

Albino lacewing budgies have red eyes, pink feet, and orange beaks. They carry both characteristics of albino and cinnamon simultaneously.

Albino budgie names (What to name an albino budgie?)

An albino budgie can be named as follows:

• Alaska
• Angel
• Buttermilk
• Casper
• Cloud
• Cloudy
• Coco
• Coconut
• Daisy
• Diamond
• Fairy
• Fluffy
• Foggy
• Frost
• Frosty
• Gandalf
• Ghost
• Ice
• Icy
• Milky
• Misty
• Moonshine
• Mushroom
• Pearl
• Pluto
• Popcorn
• Snow
• Snowball
• Snowdrop
• Snowflake
• Snowy
• Sugar
• Tofu
• Whiteout
• Winter
• Yeti

How much are albino budgies

Albino budgies have a price range between $20 and $30 in pet stores worldwide.

According to the rarity of albino varieties such as albino lacewing, budgie prices may change.

Albino budgie photos

Resources:

1. https://www.world-budgerigar.org/colourstds.htm#ALBINO