Blond Emus?

I've been seeing a few pics and posts on various sites showing "blond emus" and "white emus." One site mentioned that they are the same mutation, the blonds being heterozygous and the whites being homozygous. I guess it is inherited the same as B/B/S in chickens, which would make the blonds equal to blues, and the whites equal to splashes. Does anyone here have any? I'd love to see more pictures. And I haven't been able to find prices listed for them, though I expect them to be rather high. By the time I could have any, I'm sure they will be much more reasonable.



~Chris

Aquaeyes,

I'm embarassed. I've forgotten a word. It describes animals that are 'blonde' through lack of pigmentation, but not albino. The last time we had this discussion, I searched the Net, and found a wonderful photo of a 'cream' emu -- but I can't upload it because . . . it's already uploaded here somewhere! Can anyone tell me how to find it? or how to re-upload it? It is a very very good photo.

P.s.: I have also seen, out here where I live, a remarkably dark emu, almost black. Again, pigmentation.

Supreme Emu

Here are some links I found with pics:

http://www.herpsofarkansas.com/forum/topic/2094/blond-emu-chick-pictures/

http://www.ddemuoil.com/emus.ivnu

http://www.herpsofarkansas.com/forum/topic/546/blond-emu-pictures/

http://raskbb.com/sybilsden/viewtopic.php?t=2918

Quote:
There are lots of "non-albino" lighter colors. Some are called dilute, or leucistic, or cinnamon, or fallow, etc. In the cage-bird world, there's a desire to standardize the names given to mutations that affect plumage in the same way and are inherited by the same pattern (so that "lutino" is the name given for sex-linked mutations that cause an elimination of melanin, for example, in budgies, lovebirds, cockatiels, amazons, macaws, lories, etc.) because frequently, breeders work with many different species, and using the same names for mutations across all species simplifies things. I don't see this as much in poultry (wild and domestic), so I have no idea what type of mutation "blond" is, though one reference says that "blond" results from being heterozygous for this mutation, and the "white" birds (they have some random flecks of pigment) are homozygous. I wonder if this mutation is like "Andalusian blue" in chickens. It seems to be working the same way.

Oh, and I don't know how to upload pics.....thus far, I just post links.



~Chris

Dang you, now I want emus even more!!!!

whooops!

Okay, Aquaeyes, HorseFeatherz has helped me to transfer the photo of the 'blonde' emu.

'Leucistic'! -- that's the word. I haven't, thus far, got beyond a tripartite model: ordinary emu (quite dark to ordinary grey); leucistic (noticeably light in comparison to the average); actually albino.

I hitch everywhere in this district, and certain wild characters who give me lifts were talking about an 'albino' emu, which I had seen, which wasn't albino – but explaining that to these guys would have required their attention for as long as twenty consecutive seconds, so I failed. But I found this photo. I think it's a very handsome bird.

Yes, okay. What you wrote makes sense.

Supreme Emu

I want one.......................

Quote:
It's hard for me to tell in that one pic, but it looks like a different mutation from the one mentioned in the links I posted. Your pic is lighter than the "blond" and darker than the "white." It's very possible that it's a separate mutation. There are lots of different mutations which cause birds to be lighter in color. The one described in my links comes across as being like Andalusian Blue in chickens, where having one copy of the gene results in a lighter color, and having two copies ends up in sort of a lightly-peppered white. I'm just wondering if anyone here knows about how much they cost. I'm just curious...I can't have one of my own for several years.

Well, AquaEyes and Emu Hugger, the state of play at this second is that we have one picture of a 'blonde' emu standing in a paddock.

But wait! Supreme Detective is on the case!

Oh, wow. S. D. got something right on the net.


'These birds are the offspring from a line found on the farms of the Divine Dromaius partners. As chicks they have white to ivory colored down. Their eyes are dark blue and they have pink legs and beak. Many people have commented that they look like goslings.
Other than their unique coloration all other characteristics resemble that of a normal emu. They readily associate with the normal colored emus and exhibit all of the normal emu traits like extreme curiosity and zany behavior.
We have been fortunate that this particular bloodline is extremely docile and easy to handle (for an emu). One can only imagine the big,white, ghostlike apparitions running around during the night when you are out picking up emu eggs. It took a little getting used to them.
If you have any comments or question about our Divine Dromaius Select white emus, just email us at [email protected]. We will be happy to tell you more.'

http://www.ddemuoil.com/emus.ivnu

This really is interesting!! Aren't these birds a new sub-species of dromaius?

Supreme Emu