In the early 1950s at approximately the same time that the pied cockatiel was making its first appearance in America, occasional silver grey cockatiels were reared in New Zealand.
Unfortunately, there seems to have been either a complete lack of rudimentary genetic knowledge or of simple husbandry, because the silver grey cockatiel strain appears to have been lost over time.
From the written account, these were singularly beautiful birds.
It is not, of course, improbably that the silver grey cockatiels mutation was that later known as the cinnamon cockatiel or even the black-eyed silver, but we may never know.
Here is a beautiful assortment of cockatiel mutations that you can view.
The silver-grey cockatiels were beautiful birds…I did take the time to go have a look at the Pinterest page link, and I must say, it is a shame that they have disappeared. This is the case with so many species these days, the future does not look bright for many…
Do you think that they could ever be bred again or is that possibility past forever? I am not totally familiar with how all that works, but perhaps it could be a solution if it was possible. It seems that there is an interest from the attention this species gets.
Cockatiels are birds my friends have had in their homes, but I have not had this type of bird as a pet before. I got into birds mainly through my kids, when they were young we had a number of them as pets, along with a plethora of others such as rabbits, dogs, cats, turtles, fish, etc.
Your post took me back in time, and the pictures of the Cockatiels were gorgeous. Thanks!
Beautiful birds…silver grey cockatiels seem to have been amazing creatures and I hope they are not extinct!
Want to tell you a sad story about a yellow pastel cockatiel I had. It was in a cage as normal, sometimes I was letting her free in the room. One day from the window, I don’t know how came another cockatiel into my house. Maybe let from somebody I don’t know.
I kept him. he was a few days ( 2 weeks maybe ) with my beauty and one day left again from the window( my mistake). The next day my lady …died from sadness. I found her in her cage, alone, dead:( very sad but this showed me how big heart has this little bird. I cried for a long time:(
Sorry for your loss Christina.
Just to let you know … the silver-greys are not extinct. I have a beautiful male White-faced (silver and grey) cockatiel. His name is Cagney and he is 23 years old.