Chestnut Self Bengo.2

Dilute Chestnuts.
I have seen a few random examples of pied Chestnuts through my travels so the (Dark) Self Chestnut was not a huge surprise. However I was not aware of the Light Chestnut until recently when I have been in touch with the Bengalese Finch enthusiasts from Qld. You can see one of my Light Chestnut Bengos in the picture to the left.












The Bengalese Finch book descibes this colouring of my Bengo as a "Dilute Chestnut" (right picture).




I have been told that the Dilute Chestnuts or "Silvers" (as they were called) that were relatively common in Queensland around ten years ago resembled a bird like the Bengalese Mannikin pictured to the left.

From what I can gather, both examples are in fact "Dilute Chestnuts" however they have varied degrees of this Diluted factor.



I  suspect that this level of dilution (bottom left picture) could be achieved through selective breeding for dilution through numerous generations. Through my current contacts I do not know of any breeders that keep the Silver Bengo, so to develop this colour through selective breeding would surely be a formidable project to undertake in the future.