# Stripe on Beak???



## KTyne (Apr 16, 2011)

Hi guys! 
I've noticed since Hermes got older he's developed a dark stripe down his beak that wasn't there before.
Is this normal??? 
I think I read before that it's normal for Pied Cockatiels or something (Hermes is split Pied).

Here he is before the stripe... (3 months old)









And now... (just about 1 year old)









This stripe has developed since maybe Christmas, I don't remember it being there before then.


----------



## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Yes that's part of being a split to pied.


----------



## xoxsarahxox (Dec 13, 2010)

Hermes is pied.....he has pied flight feathers, so he is not split to pied but a full pied. But yes the stripe is a pied trait.


----------



## KTyne (Apr 16, 2011)

Thanks guys!! 
Oh, and DUH!!! Sorry I got that mixed around, he IS Pied but he is split Pearl.
But thanks for the quick reply! Glad that it's normal.  I kind of like it!


----------



## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

> he has pied flight feathers, so he is not split to pied but a full pied.


Haha I was going off of what she had typed!!! But yes!


----------



## Marlie (Jan 27, 2011)

My bird is pied and he has it too! Scooter has two stripes and they seem to have gotten bigger as hes gotten older.


----------



## KTyne (Apr 16, 2011)

That's a cute picture!!
Scooter's stripes are much darker than Hermes' is, I don't doubt that Hermes' stripes will get darker though.


----------



## RexiesMuM (Sep 7, 2011)

I wonder why i he is getting the stripe at this age ? My babies are getting their stripe in now and they are a month old


----------



## KTyne (Apr 16, 2011)

I do not know, he was probably about 10 months old when he started getting it? It probably varies from bird to bird.


----------



## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

I don't think Taz has a stripe on his beak..I'll have to take a good look. Lol


----------



## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

My little boy is pied and definitely no stripe. So I think it varies. He does have grey face patches like hermes though... just not as pronounced. 

But I love how dark and patchy his face looks btw. Its gorgeous.


----------



## sunnysmom (Sep 23, 2011)

Sunny is a pied and he has a stripe. I guess it does vary.


----------



## KTyne (Apr 16, 2011)

meaggiedear said:


> My little boy is pied and definitely no stripe. So I think it varies. He does have grey face patches like hermes though... just not as pronounced.
> 
> But I love how dark and patchy his face looks btw. Its gorgeous.


Thanks! Hermes is a Pastelface so that why's he has tons of grey on his face. It's gotten way darker too as he's gotten older. 



sunnysmom said:


> Sunny is a pied and he has a stripe. I guess it does vary.


I guess so!


----------



## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

> Hermes is a Pastelface so that why's he has tons of grey on his face. It's gotten way darker too as he's gotten older.


The PF gene has nothing to do with the amount of grey on his face. He's what's called a dirty faced pied (so his long name is PF dirty faced pied) so his face will always be grey no matter what. Even if he had normal cheek patches.


----------



## smays810 (Dec 27, 2011)

Stripe or not you have one very beautiful bird. I love his coloring!!!!


----------



## KTyne (Apr 16, 2011)

roxy culver said:


> The PF gene has nothing to do with the amount of grey on his face. He's what's called a dirty faced pied (so his long name is PF dirty faced pied) so his face will always be grey no matter what. Even if he had normal cheek patches.


I don't get it...

The breeder I got him from said he is a Pastelface Pied split Pearl. I have never heard of "dirty faced" until the past couple of months mentioned in posts here and there and I have no clue what it is.

The term dirty faced sounds slightly repulsive to me... :|


----------



## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

See how grey his face is? Since he's a boy, in any other mutation his face would be bright yellow or white depending. Because he is a "dirty faced pied" his face is grey. I'm attaching a picture of Pankakes, my PF cinnamon pearl pied, he doesn't have the dirty face because he's not considered a dirty faced pied. Its just a term used to describe the difference in the mutations. The 2nd picture I'm including is Hopscotch, who is a normal pied. He does have a dirty face. I'm just explaining that it doesn't have anything to do with the PF mutation and everything to do with Hermes being a pied.


----------



## KTyne (Apr 16, 2011)

Alrighty then... did not know there was such a thing until today!
It's basically just a term to describe a Pied with more grey on the face then? Or is it a genetically seperate trait to Pied that's just linked?


----------



## WendyBeoBuddy (Dec 12, 2011)

Yep,my wendy is a dirty faced. You can see her in my siggy,it only refers to the pieds with a grey face and does not depend on gender.its the same mutation just different placement of the feathers
Pied does not play by the rules,it switches things around,yellow tail feathers,grey where yellow or white should be and vise versa.

Dirty face just explains the pieds with grey faces.


----------



## KTyne (Apr 16, 2011)

Okie dokie, makes sense. I knew it had nothing to do with gender I just had never heard the term before.
Now I know!


----------

