Can someone help me clear up my confusion. I have no trouble recognizing opaline in normal birds. However, I'm struggling with telling if a bird is opaline if it is also spangle.

I'll share some pictures. Sorry they aren't the best. If anyone wants to share pictures, that would be great!

Sf spangles often have a great deal of suffusion or opalesence to their feathers, and that is the case with the birds you have here.

This suffusion does not make them opaline, although a great amount of suffusion in males can be an indication that they are split for opaline

What Lindsey said! I think Opaline Spangles can be one of the trickiest to learn to pick as they appear to break the rules and don't have an obvious Opaline wing bar due to the Spangling....
There a few pictures of Spangles and Spangle Opalines here: https://www.pinterest.com/montiga/spangle-budgies/

Thanks Lindsey! I can see some dark banding on the first two. So if the third were opaline he would not have the blue patch on the back of his head?

Thanks Tonic! We posted at the same time!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kemnebi Thanks Lindsey! I can see some dark banding on the first two. So if the third were opaline he would not have the blue patch on the back of his head?

The blue on the back of the head is just suffusion as well

If you have a look at the links below you will see a number of examples of sf spangles with blue suffusion. My one girl Sapphire has a lot of opalesence just like yours

Single Factor Spangle Budgie Mutation Combinations - Cute Little Birdies Aviary
Our Girls - Cute Little Birdies Aviary

Thanks Lindsey! I can see the similarities with Saphire.

I must just be being dense though. How would my sky male look different if he was opaline vs. just a spangle with lots of suffusion?

Just bumping this up. Hoping someone can answer my last question, in the previous post.

You have to look at the neck area. The back if the neck is body color when they are opaline. Like this guy.

Attached Thumbnails

 

Ohhh, so my guy would have Sky blue instead of white in that "V" area and all along the back of his neck if he were opaline? Instead of just the "spot" of blue which is suffusion? That makes sense! Thank you!!