Hello

I have a female Pastel/Ino and male Pastel (not sure if he is split to Ino) - the problem is both birds look almost identical in color. Assuming he is just a Pastel they will have babies that are Pastel/Ino and Pastel ... is there any visual differences? They are sitting on 5 eggs now so hopefully I will have babies soon.

Thanks!

Hi Brian,
Your Pastelino should be lighter in colour than your pastel bird, see this where the breeding history of the birds comes in handy. If both birds are the lighter form you'll probabily find their both ino which in turn could give you an outside chance of the lutino. The thing about pastel birds is it can pastel green (the pastel form of a green bird) or, if dark factors come into play, of pastel D green (pastel dark green) or pastel DD green(pastel green with double dark factor). Anyway back to the question in hand, a true pastel bird WILL look different in appearance from a true pastelino bird, eg, Patelino X Pastelino will result in 25% lutino, 50% pastelino(lighter forms) and 25% pastel(darker forms). So basicly what your saying is, both the birds you have are identical so depending on their colour, they could both be pastelino "or" pastel. Got a headache yet hope this helps mate.
Regards Gordon.

Hi Gordon,
I guess at this point I just have to wait and see if they have lutino babies. I forgot to mention but there is one difference in the parents - the toenails on the female are lighter then the males. Does that make a difference?

I wouldn't read to much into that Brian.
Gordon..