Genetics of Dominant Pied

Summary:
Dominant Pied - dominant
Normal - recessive

There are only two alleles for dominant pied: the normal gene and the dominant pied gene. The dominant pied gene is semi-dominant to the recessive normal gene. This means that a single-factor dominant pied looks different from the double-factor dominant pied. A single-factor dominant pied, the classic dominant pied, usually has the standard markings with the band across the tummy and bottom of the wings. A double-factor dominant pied's clear areas are extended, leaving a budgie with more clear areas than those that are left normally marked. Here, we will represent the dominant pied gene as "T" and the normal gene as "t". Therefore there are three possible genetic combinations for any budgie:

• tt - Two normal genes (homozygous) resulting in a normal budgie.
• Tt - One dominant pied gene and one normal gene (heterozygous) resulting in a single-factor dominant pied with the standard dominant pied markings.
• TT - Two dominant pied genes (homozygous) resulting in a double-factor dominant pied budgie, with few normal markings.

As you can see, it only takes one dominant pied gene for a budgie to display the dominant pied traits. This makes this is an easy variety to breed. Below are some punnet square examples of pairings.