Aspen

Thanks jonmpope. I can see the tail in the bottom picture and it is quite dark - different than my light grey girl. I am wondering if she is Isabel and light back? Anyone know that that combination looks like?

Thanks for the answers. What about fawns? Does anyone have a picture of a lightback fawn hen? I am still trying to figure out my enigma female. Thanks.

What color are the tails on lightbacks? Are they always dark?

OK. I finally got decent pictures. The grey male is gone, but here are the fawn male and the female. She is the one I am still not sure about, though I like the idea she may be a lightback. Amazing what you can get from just one pair.

I tried to take pictures a week ago and they didn't turn out well. I will try again in a couple days here. The fawn male is still coloring up and I have sold the grey male. The light female is still light, so I am interested in what people will say about her. Thanks for the answer!

So there can be variation in how dark the fawn is depending on the bird? Are other genetic factors at work there or is it a "just because" kind of thing?

So there can be variation in how dark the fawn is depending on the bird? Are other genetic factors at work there or is it a "just because" kind of thing?

No, I actually don't have a cell phone. It is a Nikon D3000, but I'm not the photographer in the family. I just get to use the camera sometimes. In the last couple days you can see the chestnut feathers on the side coming in on the dark grey chick, so he's definitely male. I'm sure the light grey is a female, but I honestly can't tell if she is grey or fawn. She will look like either depending on the light. Any guesses as to what she really is?

The third bird at the back looks darker than the front two. Is it still a fawn?

Any other ideas?

The light grey in the first picture is the same as the one in the third, fourth and fifth picture. She's the one I really can't figure out. What is telling you that they are BB or split BB. I still don't have the figured out well. Thanks

Finchdude, here is a picture of the top of the male in flight. Fortuitous timing! Does this help at all?

Here are some pictures of the latest clutch of three. There is a dark grey, a light grey and a fawn. The fawn is obviously going to be a male, but he has no tear drop. The dark grey (is it male or female?) has a tear drop, but is also very buff colored underneath. The light grey I'm guessing is female and also has no tear drop. This pair has produced full BB and full OB before, as well as the phaeo male. Any guesses as to what these ones will turn out to be?

Thanks for the help!

Sorry, I don't have more pictures of the male like that, and he is currently feeding babies so I don't want to disturb him to take pictures at this time. However, here are pictures of 4 of the 5 of the first clutch from this same pair. Maybe that will help. I hadn't considered fawn with this male. How do you tell fawn from grey isabels?

Any more answers?

Yes she does. And she has had a full OB male chick before, so she is at least split to OB. How can you tell full versus split to OB on a hen? What is the normal for a tail versus what she has?

I am new to zebra finches, having just purchased one pair last summer. The male is a normal grey and the hen is a fawn. The first clutch they produced last fall had two males – one full black breasted (I think) and one orange breasted – and three females – two fawn and one grey. From this I deduced that both are split to OB, BB and the male is split to fawn. On February 10th, they hatched two more chicks – both male, one normal grey and this one. I am attaching pictures of the parents and this chick. On April 5/6 they hatched three more chicks which just fledged yesterday – two fawn and one grey, but I can’t tell more at this time. My question is regarding “this chick”. I have read about the Florida Fancy and the Isabel mutations. I am in Canada, and I have been told that “we don’t have Isabels in North America”. (I live in Canada.) However, this looks to me to be a full FF, and getting that from the above parents just doesn’t seem possible being as it is co-dominant. So I am wondering if it really is an Isabel. A recessive makes more sense to me, though one out of ten is a pretty low ratio if both parents are split to it. I also think it is probably black breasted, and have sent a picture of the tail feathers as well. Can you help me figure out what this chick is? And any further information about parents would be good too. Thank you.

Thanks for the link. Gorgeous pictures there - but even Google translate isn't helping me identify some of them... I'll try to get decent pictures tomorrow of a pair we have and a chick from them and post them tomorrow. I'm still not sure quite what we have.

I'm in Canada and I'm having problems finding pictures of Isabels - the fawn and the grey forms - and figuring out their genetics. (I was told we don't have Isabels in North America, just Florida Fancies. I have problems believing that with birds being shipped the way they are now and the Isabel gene being recessive.) Does anyone have pictures of Isabels they can show me? Any more information on the genetics other that what I can find on efinch? Thanks.