It’s believed that the first anthracite mutation appeared in Germany in 1998.
The anthracite budgerigar mutation is an extremely rare color mutation.
A budgie breeder Hans-Jürgen H. Lenk (RIP) was able to breed an anthracite budgie in 1998. Lenk had reproduced many anthracite budgies and also gave three anthracite budgie males to other breeders.
The anthracite mutation is quite similar to The English Grey budgie mutation. Many breeders assume that the anthracite mutation is a re-emerged version of the English Budgie mutation. However, this topic is still controversial.
The appearance of anthracite budgies
Anthracite budgies have an anthracite-colored body, back, chest, flanks, and belly. Usually, the color depth is equal on every part of the body.
The anthracite budgies have black markings on the head, neck, back, and wings. The black markings cover the main color of the body, which can be white or yellow.
Flight, tail feathers, and throat spots are black. The face mask is white or yellow, based on the main base color of the budgie.
Legs and feet are gray or blue to silver-gray, and eyes are black with a white iris.
Here is a table of information about the appearance of the anthracite budgies:
| Body-color | Trunk, back, chest, flanks, and belly evenly anthracite. |
| Markings | Black on the head, neck, back, and wings on a white or yellow background. |
| Flight feathers | Black, jet black |
| Tail feathers | Black, jet black |
| Face mask | White or yellow |
| Cheek spots | Charcoal grey, deep black |
| Throat Spots | Black |
| Legs and feet | Gray or blue to silver-gray |
| Eyes | Black with a white iris |
“In the picture, you can clearly see how dark these anthracite budgies are compared to other budgies I have bred. They look almost black when the sun comes in through the window.” Hans-Jürgen H. Lenk had written about this photo. (Photo source: http://www.standardwellensittichzucht-lenk.de/artikel12.html)
Mutations and genetics (How do you breed an anthracite budgie?)
The anthracite mutation is a recessive mutation.
To breed a budgie that visually looks like an anthracite budgie, both parents must have anthracite genes.
The anthracite mutation can be combined with other mutations such as opaline, yellow face, spangle, and pied.
It is a new challenge for budgie breeders to breed new combinations of anthracite mutation with blue and green series.
Anthracite budgie breeding expectation table
| DF Anthracite x DF Anthracite | 100% Anthracite |
| DF Anthracite x EF Anthracite | 50% EF Anthracite 50% DF Anthracite |
| DF Anthracite x Normal | 100% EF Anthracite |
| EF Anthracite x EF Anthracite | 25% Normal 50% EF Anthracite 25% DF Anthracite |
| EF Anthracite x Normal | 50% Normal 50% EF Anthracite |
Are anthracite budgies rare?
Yes, anthracite budgie is a new mutation compared to other well-known mutations. The anthracite mutation began to be systematically produced in 1998 at the earliest.
Anthracite budgie photos
Resources:
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