The Pied Redrump

- first impressions -

Shortly after first reading Terry Martin’s article I had the good fortune to be able to look reasonably closely at two young cock Pied Redrumps, although I was not able to handle the birds and the lighting conditions were not ideal. The two birds were very similar in appearance and undoubtedly brothers. But on the assumption that they were nevertheless typical of the variety, I will attempt to describe them in a way which will bring to mind a lifelike picture for those who have not yet seen this variety in the feather.

As Terry says in his article, the Pied Redrump is not a particularly striking or attractive variety. As such, in the UK, and like the ‘Yellow’ or Dilute, it now appears to command little if any premium in price over the wildtype form. Nevertheless the changes to its plumage are profound and unusual and for that reason, to use Terry’s own expression, very intriguing. One point I find in its favour in the appearance stakes is that the pied markings are not too random; they do largely conform to a typical symmetrical pattern. Because of this, these birds made a rather better impression on me than I had expected after reading Terry’s article and the description given by Jim Hayward in his manual.

The pattern of piedness sees melanin (and hence green) being stripped from the breast, head, and neck areas; the flights; and to some degree the tail feathers; to reveal the underlying ground colour which varies from yellow to near white. The remaining melanised areas, largely on the wings and mantle, are changed from the normal greens and blue-greens to a dull and quite dark grey-green. The overall pattern which results is somewhat reminiscent of the Australian Dominant Pied budgerigar.

Looked at in more detail, the cock Pied Redrump retains the yellow abdomen of the normal which is echoed on the rump where bright golden yellow replaces the red of the normal; the breast, face, head, and neck, are a paler yellow and lose the bright shimmering iridescent greens of the normal; the exposed flights are nearly clear of melanin and have a rather dirty creamy-white appearance; in the central tail feathers the quill loses its melanin and the vanes on either side grade from pale near the quill to dark on the outer edge of the feather; the wings (apart from the primaries) and the mantle are a rather dull mix of quite dark grey-greens with little if any of the iridescence seen in the normal; the bill is horn coloured; the eyes appear normal; and the legs and feet are flesh pink.

Both the specimens I saw had a quite prominent grey-green patch or spot (about 0·7mm in diameter) at the back of the head. Strangely enough this is in the same position as the clear head spot seen in many Pied budgerigars. The appearance of both birds was somewhat marred by odd clear flecks or small clear patches spoiling the integrity of the grey-green area over the wings and mantle. The yellow rump of one bird had a small grey-green blemish.

I have yet to see a hen Pied Redrump and cannot say whether there are any minor differences and how difficult (or easy) it is to sex adults, let alone youngsters, of this variety.

The name given to the variety by the Australians is, quite frankly, completely untenable. At first sight or sound the name Olive-Pied (and I have added the hyphen to make it just that little better) seems to indicate that the variety is a composite form combining the characteristics of a Pied with that of an Olive, or, to be properly precise, the double-factor dark form of a green. This is not so; and the term Olive must be kept open against the possibility, even probability, that the dark gene will one day occur in the Redrump parakeet. Terry’s suggestion that it be called the ADM Pied offers one way out of this impasse. Another would be to follow the convention of prefixing the country of origin; whatever that might be, Dutch Pied, English Pied?

Would it be possible to improve the appearance and consistency of the Pied Redrump? A committed breeder might, over the years, develop a well marked strain by rigorous selection. However, once released to other breeders and into the wider gene pool they would quickly revert to the average. Only if there were a concerted drive by breeders in general to breed to a common de facto standard, as has occurred in the case of the Red-bellied Splendid parakeet, would there be a more continuing and permanent improvement. I fear this variety just does not have any obvious potential which would attract this degree of universal commitment.

Copyright: Clive Hesford, March 1999

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