A PPR (Partial Psittacine Reduction) mutation has been known for several years in Forpus coelestis. This mutation is considered turquoise by almost every breeder. But it quickly became clear to us that most of the phenotypes we see are combined with blue. Due to the fact that the PPR mutations that we have for now are alleles of the blue gene, they give an intermediate colour in combination with blue So it was a matter of waiting for someone to breed a proven homozygous *turquoise* Forpus coelestis.
Last year we received an email from Panagiotis Vrannas (Greece) with pictures of what he believes are homozygous *turquoise* Forpus coelestis. These birds definitely do not have a turquoise phenotype, the colour is more like the teal mutation. This PPR mutation is known in Agapornis taranta and produces a teal phenotype (green blueish phenotype in which the green colour predominates).
The rule is, of course, that we do not base conclusions on one single cause. So we had to wait till other breeders came up with the same birds and now more than a year later I have received photos from three different breeders of similar phenotypes, which are supposed to be homozygous *turquoise* Forpus coelestis. They all have indeed a ‘teal’ phenotype, the same as the Panagiotis his birds.
So maybe it’s about time we couldn’t start wondering if the *turquoise* Forpus coelestis might be a teal mutation after all?
Picture © Panagiotis Vrannas