The female Pearl often matures with a yellow face. The male will lose most or all of his pearling by the second molt.
An excellent female specimen will show heavy pearling on her back and wings, with some pearling extending into her chest. An excellent male will retain some evidence of his original pearling.
Pearl is another common pattern. It is the pretty speckled patterning that covers the body of the tiel. It is different to the pied, in that each individual feather is patterned. Each feather has the white/yellow spot/s on it, causing a lacing/spotting/speckling effect. It can vary in its exact pattern on the feather, some being a heavy lacy pattern, others being a light spotting. Some are concentrated over the back and wings, and others cover the whole body evenly.
There is a very unique characteristic about the pearl gene, in that most mature males loose the speckling effect over time, whereas the females retain it. Upon the first moult of a male pearled tiel, it will loose much of its �speckles’. Though he will retain some scattered spots, they too will dissipate over several moults. Occasional males will not loose their speckling, but the majority of them do. All females will retain their patterning, making them often the preferred gender of this mutation! Remember that even though a male may loose his patterning, and end up looking like a normal male, he still is a pearl, and still carries the pearl genes.
