John J. Wilson & Son
Our Thoughts on Clearwings
It has often been said that the Clearwings of years ago had much clearer wings than birds of today.
This may well be true, but they were nowhere near the size that they are today.
We believe that size is obviously very important, but it should not be the "be all & end all" to the detriment of body colour and wing clarity.
It is a great pity that some judges, when judging Clearwings, just look for the largest bird in the class. Yes, we agree that size, shape, head etc. all gain points, but so does colour, wing clarity etc.
I know that some exhibitors will put their largest Clearwing into a show, irrespective of the fact that the wings are very dark, just because they know how a particular judge will see it.
Improving size
We never use Normals/clearwing to our clearwings. We believe that this darkens the wings, and by trying to breed this out over several generations, you are back to where you started.
There are, however, some good Yellows about, and providing they are not split for Opaline or Cinnamon, we would use them. We would not use Grey Yellows as, because of their dominance, they could soon take over your stud.
Yellow-wing Grey Greens, along with Whitewing Greys are rarely shown, mainly, I believe, because some judges aren't sure what they are.
One way to be certain that a yellow is not split opaline or cinnamon, is to purchase a hen, if possible. Because these two varieties are sex linked, a hen cannot be split for either.
Yellows & Whites
Yellows and Whites, (often referred to as Dilutes, or suffused Yellows and Whites) can improve the size of Clearwings, and at the same time, maintain or improve wing clarity.
It is often said that Australian Clearwings have much better wings than their English counterparts. I agree that some are. However, the Australian standard for Clearwings differs greatly from ours. I know for a fact that certain Clearwing breeders in Australia use Dark eyed Clears and Cinnamons with their Clearwings.
The Australian Clearwing differs so much from ours that it is virtually a different variety although the genetics of inheritance are the same.
I heard a report from an Australian breeder that they had bred Clearwings from two dilutes. As this is impossible, I can only assume that what the person thought were dilutes, were in fact Whitewings , even if they had pale body colour, which would in fact produce Whitewing offspring.
Below are a couple of photos to show that it is possible to produce Clearwings with good wings!
Below is the type of Yellow that is good to put to Clearwings
