since you all know how much i love my gcc's i thought i would start a topic of color mutations (mostly due to selective breeding). There are 2 really new color mutations that are leading towards what appears to me to be a lutino mutation.
there are two basic types of mutations (and its important to note here that mutations are difference in color and not a mix of species... these are still all types of green cheeks). there are dominant/recessive traits and sex linked recessive traits.
to start there is the basic wild type green color: emerald green body, red tail, red on belly, black to grey head with green cheek patches, blue flight feathers.
for the sex linked traits there are two basic ones: yellow sided and cinnamon. Sex linked means they are carried on the X chromosome (birds are "backwards" from humans... boys are XX and girls are XY). So often the color mutations show up in girls before they do in boys b/c a girl only needs to have one mutation to show where as boys need to carry one on each chromosome to display the trait).
Yellow sided (ys) is a mutation where under the wings and along the birds sides there is a splash of yellow color and an intensifying of red along the belly. (this is often accompanied by dark shafts on each feather that are especially noticable around the neck region). the head of this bird is still dark as is the beak while the feet are flesh colored.
Cinnamon (cin) is a second sex linked mutation where the bird displays dramatically different colors. The head is light tan and the beak and feet are both flesh colored. The base green is also a lighter green and the tail is a lighter red. The belly reds tend to be more muted as well.
The resulting combination of both YS and Cin is called a Pineapple. This is where the bird displays both the yellow sides under the wings, the emphasis in red around the belly, but a light colored head as well as flesh colored feet and beak.
There are also hyper mutations with their own names as well such as a hyper mutation of a YS which has even more emphasis on the reds and being named Red Faced Yellow Sided.
and the hyper mutation of red faced pineapple
and the mutation which the pigmentation is diluted to seem almost pastel. this mutation is different from cinnamons or pineapples however in that the green is almost pastel lime green and the beak and feet are "dark"-er than cins or pineapples. This mutation also has ruby eyes instead of black. this has been called the Dilute or American Dilute.
A combination of Dilute, YS, and Cin results in a relatively new mutation called the Suncheek. This bird is primarily yellow with splashes of red across their breast and face, an orange/red tail, and lime green feathers across their back. They have ruby eyes and flesh feet and beaks.
Lastly there is also the dominant/recessive blue mutation called a Turquoise. This is a mutation where yellows and reds seem to be blocked from production resulting in a turquoise coloration across the back and wings with silvery/grey tail, head, belly, and flight feathers.
And as with the other mutations these can be combined with the sex linked mutations to create even more color mutations. The most prominent of these is the cinnamon turquoise mutation (which in my opinion is quite possibly the prettiest mutation we have right now).
of course while these birds are quite beautiful the thing to note here is often these birds are bred into a more and more selective pool of genes which tends to result in overall less healthy birds, which is true for most genetic mutations of birds.