Genetics:

The Opal factor canary exhibits an autosomal mutation which suppresses the brown pigment and dilutes the black to grey. The ground color is white and the striations have an iridescent shimmer that makes these canaries lovely to look at. If you look at the feathers near the body, you will notice the dark color. These canaries have a light beak and legs.

The canary at the top is a double recessive Silver Agate Opal. He is a show quality bird raised by my good friend Mary Bacon, of Exquisite Exotic Aviary. We are very grateful for this bird! His offspring are shown below. Because he was mated to yellow ground Opals, none of the offspring are double recessives. However, we expect to have double recessive offspring during the 2007 breeding season.

The outstanding Yellow Opal shown in the third photo is a grandson of the double recessive and a son of the bird shown on the last photo. This bird is a real beauty and will be bred in the 2007 season. We have several like him.

Our Philosophy & Practice:

We have purified our blood line, with Mary's expertise, and some of her wonderful birds. With the Opal canaries we do not color feed. We give lots of greens, sprouted seed, and Zupreem fruit blend pellets. Our birds get plenty of exercise and they are exposed to full spectrum lights for the development of all the vitamins necessary for health. At certain times of the year they get to fly in an outdoors aviary, and at times they have flying time indoors, outside their cages. This keeps them in top condition and more resistant to stress.