In the saddleback variety, the budgie's stripes are dark grey on the head and into the "V" shaped area of the shoulders and top of the wings. The markings gradually return to the normal black at the bottom of the wings. The head markings are sparse. This variety looks similar to an opaline, however, unlike the opaline, the body color does not appear on the head or wings of the saddleback. The rest of the budgie's color and markings remain normal. This variety first appeared in 1975 in Australia and is still very rare.

Basic Genetics:
Normal - dominant
Saddleback - recessive

For more info on saddleback budgerigars and their genetics, see Saddlebacks - A New Mutation in the UK by Ghalib Al-Nasser

photos courtesy of Ghalib Al-Nasser		photos courtesy of and copyright Didier Mervilde
The saddleback variety has sparse head markings. The markings of the wings are grey at the top and merge into the normal black color at the bottom.