I have never seen anywhere that they made any claims about what a cinnamon's color genetics are. The only place I saw anything about the red eyed cinnamons was on the old GFI forum. All those old threads are gone now and that forum is pretty much worthless. They had been doing something on Facebook but I don't know any more.
Haha! The birds love the camera. The setting was ready for cleanup.
Hrmm..now I get to bore you w/my curiosity, bc that's what I do
Wow, lots of fascinating info. There really doesn't seem to be a lot of guinea specific info that I've found, but it makes sense that many of the rules that apply to genetics and birds in general would apply. Definite food for thought.Hrmm..now I get to bore you w/my curiosity, bc that's what I do
If you take the guinea aspect out of it and just focus on genetics, I think it would go like this:
Leucism- describes characteristics resulting from defects in pigment cell differentiation and/or migration from the neural crest (cells from the embryonic ectoderm germ layer giving rise to a diverse cell lineage) to skin, hair, or feathers during development, but not the eyes. The causes are varied and unrelated,such as piebaldism, Waardenburg syndrome, vitiligo, Chédiak–Higashi syndrome, and Melanophilin mutations.
More common than a complete absence of pigment cells is localized or incomplete hypopigmentation, resulting in irregular patches of white on an animal that otherwise has normal colouring and patterning. This partial leucism is known as a "pied" or "piebald" effect. Although inherited, the amount and patterning of color can vary between adults and offspring,can skip generations if leucistic genes are recessive. The ratio of white to normal-coloured skin can vary between generations, different offspring from the same parents,& members of the same litter.
Affected plumage lacks melanin pigment,resulting in white feathers, unless the normal plumage colour also comprises carotenoids (e.g. yellows), which remain unaffected by the condition.
The reduction of pigment in leucistic birds causes feathers to weaken and be more prone to wear. In some situations, this can hinder flight, which, in addition to leucistic birds usually being more conspicuous, can heighten risk of predation. There is also evidence that leucistic birds might, on occasion, not be recognised or accepted by a potential mate.
Albino-Due to the lack of melanin production in both the retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) and iris, those affected by albinism sometimes have pink pupil due to the underlying blood vessels showing through. However, this is not always the case and many albino animals do not have pink pupils. Albinism results in the reduction of melanin production only,melanocyte/melanophore is still present. Thus, in species w/other pigment cell-types, albinos are not entirely white, but instead display a pale yellow colour.
Red eye is lack of pigmentation in iris, allowing the blood vessels of the eye to be seen. Since this is said not to be always the case in leucism or albinism and not affected by neural crest, it wld seem to be a defect in path of neural tube to optic cup formation.
Where as- I think her name was Bemma?- was going all out breeding more pied, it seems that atleast some yrs back, many breeders in Oz wld cull the pied keets-I assume bc they deemed it a defect.
Sydney, you have gone where I went this winter when I captured a Leucistic Red Tail Hawk on one of my trail cams. My discussion with my nephew who is an ornithologist about the ramifications of being leucistic didn't really go here and the hawk with its mate didn't seem to be suffering from any abnormal condition, but it is something to consider. I do worry about my white hen(Ebay) being way more obvious in the woods, except for in the winter when she has some advantage with the snow. I'd post the vid , but not sure how many people want to see a hawk on a guinea forum
.I had to stop and let all of that info bake in my brain for awhile before I go further. Though it's about genetics, it's about pigment and color which is light refraction on an object. So when it says "except those colors w/yellow in them, which are unaffected". Yellow is a tertiary color; I think the only color it isn't in is white, and I'm not sure abt that bc we've all seen white fade to yellow. Mb I'm over thinking it, but that was my first thought when I read that sentence.Sydney, you have gone where I went this winter when I captured a Leucistic Red Tail Hawk on one of my trail cams. My discussion with my nephew who is an ornithologist about the ramifications of being leucistic didn't really go here and the hawk with its mate didn't seem to be suffering from any abnormal condition, but it is something to consider. I do worry about my white hen(Ebay) being way more obvious in the woods, except for in the winter when she has some advantage with the snow. I'd post the vid , but not sure how many people want to see a hawk on a guinea forum
I’d love to see it!Sydney, you have gone where I went this winter when I captured a Leucistic Red Tail Hawk on one of my trail cams. My discussion with my nephew who is an ornithologist about the ramifications of being leucistic didn't really go here and the hawk with its mate didn't seem to be suffering from any abnormal condition, but it is something to consider. I do worry about my white hen(Ebay) being way more obvious in the woods, except for in the winter when she has some advantage with the snow. I'd post the vid , but not sure how many people want to see a hawk on a guinea forum
