The Bengo Colours

Here is a comprehensive list from overseas of the Bengo colours represented on a poster.

This list is from overseas and a large amount of the colours are not available in Australia or the status is unknown. The Bengos that are known to be in Australia are highlighted Red  

Self chocolate 1 (Pictured is the Euro Self)  

Self chestnut 2  

Self-fawn 3  

Chocolate dilute 4  (in the past but presently unknown)  

Chestnut dilute 5  

Fawn dilute 6   (in the past but presently unknown) 

Chestnut clearwing 7  

Fawn clearwing 8  

Self black-grey 9  

Self chestnut-grey 10  

Black-grey dilute 11  

Chestnut-grey dilute 12  

Chestnut clearwing 13  

Self fawn-grey 14  

Fawn grey dilute 15  

Fawn grey clearwing 16  

Cream ino 17  

Grey ino 18  

Self-white 19  

Albino 20  

Marked-whitehead 21  

Marked-with-eyering 22  

Marked-with-cap 23  

Fawn-marked-with-cap 24  

Chocolate-and-white 25  

Chestnut-and-white 26  

Chocolate crested 27  

Fawn crested 28  

White crested 29

Selfblack-grey frill 30

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.