How can you tell the difference between a greywing, a clearwing and a dilute budgie?
Here are some of the common differences between these 3 mutations with pictures to help you identify each mutation. Look at the head and wing markings, cheek patches, body color, and main tail feathers for the best indications of which mutation your budgie is.
Clearwings, greywings and dilutes generally have different colored cheek patches. Clearwings will have normal intensity violet cheek patches, while Greywings will have more diluted light violet cheek patches. Dilutes will typically have very pale cheek patches when compared to both of these.
Here are some examples of normal green and blue clearwing, greywing and dilute cheek patches:
Violet
Light Violet
Pale Violet
Greywings and dilutes will have 50% diluted body color, and clearwings will have almost full intensity body color at only 10% dilution.
Right are various 50% diluted body colors you would expect in a greywing and dilute, and left the bright body color you would expect to see in clearwings:
Greywings should have medium grey head barring, throat spots and wing markings. Clearwings on the other hand should have light grey to white. There are some very poorly marked clearwings that have darker grey markings in these areas, and in these cases look at the body, cheek patch and tail feathers to determine the real mutation. Dilutes will normally have very pale grey markings.
Light Grey To White
Medium Grey
Pale Grey
Clearwings usually have a lighter grey tail, with a slight body color suffusion. Greywings normally have a grey/blue tail, with the depth of color depending on the dark factors they have. Dilutes have a pale white or yellow, to a pale grey tail.