Violets
Violets come in a variety of shades, and
in both blue and green series lovebirds. One of the best ways to
identify a violet lovebird is to take a peek under the wing. A violet
will show violet-blue underneath like the bird in this
picture.
Here are some of my
violets.
Below is a picture of Liko ("bud" in
Hawaiian.) He is a Cobalt Whiteface Violet. (One violet factor and a
dark factor.)
Most agree that the violet mutation first
presented itself in Denmark, thus the name Danish Violet. It is
visible in a violet shade that tinges the bird and is most evident in
the rump color, but also visible under the wing. The violet color is
actually caused by a change in the structure of the feather itself,
affecting the way that light is absorbed, increasing the visibility
of the violet end of the light spectrum.
A bird can be either a single- or double-factor
violet. A double-factor violet bird will show a pronounced deepening
of the violet coloring, as well as darken the color of a bird (much
as a single dark factor would.)
Click
here to see a picture of Reggae.
(He is in the first picture on my American Yellow page.) He is a
medium green violet, or jade violet.
But the photo really doesn't do him justice. He
is stunning.
This is a seagreen cobalt
violet.
He
is one of my most beautifully colored birds,
though, again, the camera can't pick up the beauty of the violet's
colors.
In sunlight, they shimmer and sparkle,
refracting a myriad of blue, purple and violet highlights, much like
saphires, tanzanites, and amethysts.
And these ones are a real mystery... Two
whiteface cobalt violet babies who hatched in the spring of 2000.
Their dad is Liko (above) and mom is a whiteface pied creamino. The
two babies have a very odd phenomenon -- green and violet stripes!!!
We are waiting to see if they molt out of this odd coloration with
their first molt this fall. If you want to take a peek at them, click
here.
A cobalt violet.
The camera's flash seems to set off the
violet much better. You get an idea of the shimmering colors I was
trying to describe above. This, too, is a cobalt
violet.