Orange Breasted Zebra Finches
© 1977 Poule d'eau Publishing
This is truly one of the most interesting mutations to have appeared. The very first Orange Breasted Zebra was found in a pet shop in Belgium in 1978 by Paul Chabot. He is credited with finding and establishing the mutation. In Orange Breasted Zebras, the black breast bar is replaced by orange pigment, so are the throat striations, and some of the markings of the black and white tail coverts also contain orange pigment. The average male Orange Breasted Zebra is not completely free of black markings on the breast bar, but generally the bar is predominately orange and if it contains black it will be in the form of edging on the orange breast feathers. A really good Orange Breasted male would have a completely orange breast with no black. The standard Orange Breasted are often in Gray and Fawn. Fawn Orange Breasted are perhaps the prettiest. Perhaps because they lack black pigment, Orange Breasted Fawns tend to show the clearest, most unblemished orange breast bars. This variety offers endless possibilities for rare and unusual combinations with other mutations. It is recessive, and crossing an Orange Breasted X Normal Gray, produces splits. These splits are often visually different, showing orange pigmented feathers in areas where pure normals would not. The Orange Breasted Zebra is not a difficult mutation to produce, but I do not regard it as completely free breeding. Although I have had Orange Breasted Zebras since 1982, I have never found myself with a large number of them. Frequently Orange Breasted pairs are slower to breed than many other mutations. Frankly I raise more Gouldian finches per annum that Orange Breasted Zebras. I can't explain why? Perhaps the most sought after combination with Orange Breasted is with Black Breasted. An Orange Breasted Black Breast is a spectacular Zebra Finch, with extensive large orange cheek patches, and a much larger orange breast bar. This combination is certainly one of the most attractive of all zebras and always in demand. During the past 15 years I have bred Orange Breasted Zebras in a wide variety of colors as listed below. Orange breasted birds are not difficult to breed but their breeding success does seem to be slower than other mutations.
Pictures of some of these will be added as time permits.
