Dove Colors and Genetics

Genetics of the Ringneck Dove.
I. Overview |  II. Albino |  III. Ivory |  IV. Pied |  V. Rosy |  VI. Dark-Blond-White

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GENETICS OF THE RINGNECK DOVE, Streptopelia risoria.

IV. Description of mutants

Pied, an autosomal recessive. Gene symbol = pi.
 

Adapted from ADAN Jan-Feb 1985: 9-11

 Pied or mottled or splashed "variants" have been known and occasionally reported in doves for many years; for example, Finn, 1902 (Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, pages 162, 167) and Dr. Oscar Riddle, 1947, (Endocrines and Constitution in Doves and Pigeons. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Publication 572 - see plate 3, p. 15.) However, nothing particular came of them until about 1957, when Bernard Roer of Phoenix, Arizona, first bred some, and later started selling them. Here’s what he has written about the origin:

"My pied Ringneck doves were first raised by Mr. Hugh Nichols, Higley, Arizona, from a pair of common Ringnecks that he got from me. They had about half pied young (male and female). These were mated together and raised only pied. At about this time pied birds were raised from Ringnecks by Lou Shoemaker in Baldwin Park, California. These birds looked like the ones we had. I sent a lot of my doves to California, so they have been mixed."

One piebald or pied female dove and 3 carriers were first sent to us by Richard Burger of Newark, Delaware, about 20 May 1967. Two years later he sent 9 unsexed pied that matured into 5 male and 4 female pieds (plus 4 carriers).

No bill ring nor bill pigment is seen in the newly hatched pied, although very rarely it might appear "by chance." I think I have noticed it twice in about 600 pied hatchings, but it was more a small "blob" than a ring. The juvenile plumage of pied doves looks much like grizzle pigeons with streaks of light or no color merging with pigmented areas on each feather. The next or adult plumage is distinctly different. Each whole feather either is normally pigmented or is white (not pigmented). Patches of pigmented feathers or non-pigmented feathers are scattered, at first glance seemingly at random. Then one notes some tendency to pattern or regularity of the pied areas. Some birds are mostly white with only a few pigmented feathers. More rarely some birds are mostly pigmented with only a few white areas. This tends to follow family lines and is obviously genetically influenced. Since the mostly or more white birds were common among pied birds, I selected in the reverse direction. Most of my pied stock now has much pigment.

The pattern or regularity of white patches shows up best in such mostly pigmented birds. The face and throat seem to be one center of white patching. The wing butts or shield area by the wrist is another center of white patching. The rump, flights and tail are progressively involved in white patching as the extent of white patching increases. One curious feature is that the tail "bar" of pigmented feathers on pied birds is disturbed. The pigment seems to "run" further out towards the tips and smear into a "rusty" tone so that the neat (discrete) "bar" pattern effect is lost.

Carrier or heterozyous pied birds may have one or a few white feathers, especially on the head. This happens with about 10% (9/86) of such birds and is diagnostic for carriers if present. Such flecked head plumage may represent somatic mutation. (White feathers from scars are pretty rare but could mislead someone on rare occasions.)

In pied doves the orange-red eye ring is missing. The eye color is "black." Since the pupil is unaffected, the actual color is "dark ruby." a blackish iris with a red pupil, depending on age. In dove squabs the eye ball is so large and the position of left and right eyes so nearly opposite that light can be seen through the pupil from the opposite side of the head. This is almost true for the adult.

Interactions:

Pied doves combined with the sex-linked white are white with black eyes. The white is obviously epistatic to (hides) the pigmented feathers. But the black eye of pied shows that effect also on white doves, hence, black eyed whites. All other color combinations are as one would expect. Regular pied (dark), peach pied, and peaches and cream likely will be favorites with fanciers, but blond pied, rosy pied, and pied ivory wll have their place.

Genetic diagraming can follow the same style given for albino and ivory characters (ADAN Sep-Oct, Nov-Dec 1984). [Again you may wish to shorten the pi gene symbol to p.] The normal gene (non-pied) can be Pi⁺ or just +. The plus, +, in genetics is the symbol for the normal, standard, or wild type gene. Some students like to use + as a superscript to the gene, but it is not necessary to do so. For the diagram model this time I’ll just use the F₂ and emphasize the phenotypic-genotypic shorthand form. Note that the +//_ includes purebred normals and carriers.

In analyzing the inheritance of pied, I classified 1,986 birds, see table 3. My ringneck test cross data exhibited a very rare event -- i.e. a "perfect" ratio of 291:291 non-pieds to pieds when we expect a 1:1 ratio here. The testcrosses with male hybrids, however, and pooled male plus female hybrids had a significant deficiency of pied progeny. I have no clue to the reason for this, except that species hybrid populations are more likely to have their chromosome pairing and segregation to be abnormal. Indeed, such data may be evidence for such abnormalities. Cytogeneticists are unwilling to look for this directly, because bird chromosomes are so small.

Dove Colors and Genetics

Genetics of the Ringneck Dove.
I. Overview |  II. Albino |  III. Ivory |  IV. Pied |  V. Rosy |  VI. Dark-Blond-White

Return to Wilmer's Main Page