Inheritance: Sex-linked recessive (Z-linked)

The cinnamon mutation reduces eumelanin synthesis, converting black/dark melanin to a warmer phaeomelanin-like brown. This shifts the overall body color from green to a warm, brownish-olive green. The grey chest barring becomes tan/beige, the red belly is typically brighter, and the eyes appear red at hatch, maturing to a dark plum-red rather than the dark brown/black of wild-type. Feather shafts are also lightened.

Because it is sex-linked, females only need one copy to express the trait; males need two. This means that a male can carry this trait hidden.

Inheritance: Sex-linked recessive (Z-linked)

Opaline/Yellow-sided reduces eumelanin specifically on the chest, sides, and flanks, revealing the underlying psittacofulvin (yellow/orange) pigments that are normally masked.

The result is a bird with a vivid yellow-to-orange chest and flanks, bright red belly, and a relatively normal green back and wings. The grey barring on the chest is eliminated or greatly reduced. Eye color remains dark.

**Opaline mutation birds can be selectively bred to have higher expressions of red or yellow. Commonly referred to as (high-red), not to be confused with Dominant Red.

Inheritance: Autosomal recessive

The American Dilute is a distinct mutation separate from both cinnamon and fallow, operating on its own locus through its own mechanism. It works by reducing eumelanin across the entire bird, producing an overall softer, washed appearance the body green becomes noticeably lighter and more pastel, dark markings are muted, and the general contrast of the bird is reduced. The effect is a gentler dilution than fallow, which tends to produce a more dramatically altered bird, making American Dilute visually intermediate between wild-type and fallow in overall lightness.

Unlike fallow, eye color remains dark, which is one of the clearest distinguishing features between the two mutations. Birds carrying only one copy are visually indistinguishable from wild-type and can only be confirmed through test pairings.

The beak and feet can have a varied and sometimes mottle appearance.

Combining Dilute and Opaline can lead to a bird with a much lighter beak and light feet with dark nails

Inheritance: Autosomal Recessive

NSL Lutino is a rare autosomal recessive mutation that completely eliminates eumelanin, producing a bright yellow bird with red eyes, a red belly and tail, white wing feathers, and fully pink feet and bill. Because it sits on an autosome rather than a sex chromosome, both males and females are equally affected and can be splits unlike sex-linked mutations such as cinnamon or yellow-sided where females cannot carry. A bird must have two copies to be visual, and single copy carriers look completely normal. It is easily confused with the Suncheek (Cinnamon, Opaline, Dilute) but the red eye and pure white wing feathers are the distinguishing features.

Inheritance: autosomal recessive

Dun fallow is a rare autosomal recessive mutation first documented in Green-Cheeked Conures in South Africa in the 1980s. Its defining characteristic is an asymmetric eumelanin reduction the eyes lose pigment dramatically, producing bright red eyes, while the feathers retain most of their color and resemble cinnamon or pastel. Both males and females are equally affected, and a bird must carry two copies of the gene to express the phenotype visually single copy carriers look completely normal. The exact gene locus is still under investigation, and dun fallow birds tend to be fragile and difficult to breed successfully.

Inheritance: Reports of both Autosomal recessive or Autosomal Incomplete Dominant

Incomplete Dominant Pied

Pied is a mutation that creates irregular yellowish patches typically on the wings, belly, thighs, and rump over the bird's normal base coloration, while retaining dark eyes, beak, and feet. Because it's incomplete dominant, there are no hidden splits every bird carrying the gene expresses it visually, and breeding a Pied to a wild-type produces roughly 50% Pied offspring. Birds can be single factor or double factor, with double factor birds generally showing more extensive pied markings, though expression is naturally highly variable even among clutch mates. The mutation is autosomal, so males and females are equally affected.