What Colors Are Cockatiels?

Many different mutations can occur in cockatiels. It is possible that a cockatiel of one category might give birth to a different type of cockatiel. If one or both of the parents carry a gene for one of the several cockatiel mutations, they may produce offspring of a different type than themselves. A number of different categories of cockatiels can be identified based on their colors and the patterns of the different colors on their bodies.

  1. The Albino Cockatiel

    • The albino mutation in cockatiels leaves the male and female albino cockatiel birds completely white. For this reason, the sex of the birds cannot be determined just by looking at them.

    The Cinnamon Cockatiel

    • The cinnamon cockatiel is dark brown. Pearling may occur on some cinnamon cockatiels, which means that they may have spots of other colors on their feathers.

    The Dark-Eyed Clear Cockatiel

    • The dark-eyed clear cockatiel has white on the majority of its body, with some yellow on the face and light orange on the cheeks. The eyes of a dark-eyed clear cockatiel appear black.

    The Fallow Cockatiel

    • Fallow cockatiels resemble cinnamon cockatiels, only the brown color of their bodies is much lighter than the brown on the cinnamon cockatiels' bodies. Fallow cockatiels have dark red eyes.

    The Lutino Cockatiel

    • The lutino cockatiel resembles the dark-eyed clear cockatiel, but the lutinos have red eyes instead of dark eyes. They have white on the majority of their bodies and yellow on their faces with light orange cheeks. Male lutino cockatiels lose their tail feather barring when they are no longer juveniles. The female will keep her barring throughout her life.

    The Normal Grey Cockatiel

    • A male normal grey cockatiel has dark grey feathers on the majority of his body with white feathers on his wings. The face is yellow with bright orange circles on each of the cheeks. The female normal grey cockatiel has white or yellow on her tail feathers, a grey face and dull orange circles on her cheeks.

    The Pearl Cockatiel

    • Pearl cockatiels have white or yellow spots on their backs, wings and occasionally their chests. A male pearl cockatiel will lose his pearling as he grows older. Sometimes, a small amount of the pearling will remain on the male's body throughout his life. The female pearl cockatiel will keep all of her pearling throughout her life.

    The Pied Cockatiel

    • Pied cockatiels have a gene mutation that causes the bird to have random white splotches on their bodies. The amount of white splotches varies from bird to bird. It can be one single splotch of white or a body covered in white splotches.

    The Silver Cockatiel

    • Silver cockatiels resemble normal grey cockatiels. However, the body of a silver cockatiel is a very light grey rather than a dark grey. The male has a deep yellow color on the face with bright orange circles on the cheeks. The female silver cockatiel does not develop a yellow face or orange circles, but instead remains a light grey color. Both males and females have red eyes, and pink beaks and feet.

    The Whiteface Cockatiel

    • A whiteface cockatiel is grey and white. The male whiteface cockatiel has a white face, while the female whiteface cockatiel has a grey face. Neither the males nor the females develop the yellows or oranges that other cockatiels have on their faces.