The Diamond Dove Mutations

 Blue - Silver - Cinnamon - Red & Ultra Red

Brilliant - Yellow - Ocher - Peach - Blue Pied 

 White Tails: Laced WT, Blue WT, Silver WT & Cinnamon WT

Brilliant WT, Yellow WT, Blue WT Pied & Snow-White 

Page 1 - Blue, Silver, Cinnamon, Red & Ultra Reds

BLUE or (WILD TYPE) DIAMOND [B] (Seen at $20 to $25 per bird)

This is the original or Wild Type Diamond dove, the bird that is still found in the wilds of Australia. It is a blue/gray bird, showing some rust/brown over the top with small white dots on the shoulders and wing coverts (hence the name "Diamond" Dove). Tail feathers are dark gray to black, tipped in white. Primary flight feathers are a vivid rust color, showing a rufus flush in flight and edged in black. (See detailed Description in ("What are Diamond Doves"). In the Blue Diamond dove, the female often shows more rust/brown across the head, neck, back and shoulders than the males. **The key to identifying this variety is opening the wing and observing the rust/red primaries edged in dark grey to black. Without the dark edging to the primaries, it is not a Blue Diamond. Something else has been mixed in at some point in time.** (This type is dominant to most other color variations.) [Dark Cinnamons also resemble this variety but never have the dark edging to the primary feathers.]

SILVER DIAMOND [S] (Seen at $30 to $35 per bird)

The first color mutation. A dilute silver-gray color. Delicate gray covering the head, neck, breast and wing coverts. Upper body is a little darker with the underline lighter (often almost white). The white wing dots have lost their dark edging. This is recessive to wild type. **The key to identifying this variety is opening the wing and observing the dilute, "peach" coloring of the primaries edged in a medium to light grey (NO black edging at all).

CINNAMON DIAMOND [C] (Seen at $35 to $40 per bird)

Also known as Rufous and Dimorphic Cinnamon. This is a very distinctive mutation showing WIDE variation within it, ranging from brownish-red to a rusty-red over the upper body with rusty highlights to much lighter, grey laced birds with rust speckles. The flight and tail feathers are pale gray with NO black pigment, making even the darkest cinnamon easy to distinguish. Young birds are very pale, with rich cinnamon-red color above. They darken as they mature, retaining the rust on the back and wings. Being dimorphic, the males tend to be a lighter bird, lacy with dark gray and rust highlights, while the hens tend to be darker with even rust over the head, back and wings. I feel the most attractive cinnamon are the lighter colored ones. RED and Ultimate Red are newer color phases of the Cinnamon and very striking birds. Cinnamon is recessive. **This mutation shows the widest range of coloration and variety, from dark birds closely resembling Blue Diamonds to very light birds with grey laced edging. An easy identification is by the complete lack of black edging in the Primary and Tail feathers.**
Red and Ultimate Reds are "Varieties" of the Cinnamon Diamond dove Mutation that have been Selectively Bred for Color.
These color phases of Cinnamon will often Breed True but genetically are not a separate Mutation from the Cinnamon.
 
Cinnamon - Red - Ult. Red

RED DIAMOND [R] (Seen at $50 to $75 pr bird)

This is a color phase of the Cinnamon Diamond dove. Being dimorphic, the males and females are easily distinguishable! A bright rust-red upper body with a silvery-white lower body. Males tend to show little red on their backs and shoulders and are nearly white. Hens are nearly all red and white with little gray at all. These are quite rare and very striking! **Selected from the lightest of the Cinnamons, Reds show much less of the grey trimming than the Cinnamons. There is still NO black in the primaries.**

"I have seen a wide variety of birds labled and sold as Reds. With the wide variety within the Cinnamon Mutation, it is very difficult to draw a line at where Cinnamon stops and Red starts. I use the "grey" coloring as an indicator. Cinnamons show the grey lacing and edging, where true Reds do not, or show very, very little of the greys."

Ultimate Reds [UR] (Seen at $100 to $125 per bird)

Ultimate Reds are the Whitest of the Cinnamons and Reds, having most all of the grey bred out of them. The males often resemble a Brilliant White Tail or Snow-White until their wings are opened and the vivid rust of the primaries is seen. The hens also show bright white with vivid rust over their head, neck, shoulders and back. Much fewer good breeding pairs exist of this variety. **The whiteness, lack of grey and the vivid rust red primaries identify these birds easily.**

Back to the Diamond Dove Mutation Page Index
Or On To:

 Blue - Silver - Cinnamon - Red & Ultra Red

Brilliant - Yellow - Ocher - Peach - Blue Pied 

 White Tails: Laced WT, Blue WT, Silver WT & Cinnamon WT

Brilliant WT, Yellow WT, Blue WT Pied & Snow-White