My Blue Indigo colored, pigeons.

Here are some examples of the Indigo gene (symbolized as In) as it is expressed on Blue, base colored, pigeons.   Some still look blue while others look more red. This gene called Indigo effects the pattern markings of the body differently than the end markings of the tail or tail bar.     It is best expressed on a blue color base where it turns the body markings or pattern areas rust red in color.     It modifies the black strip or bar of the tail into a navy blue andalusian.     "What is an Andalusian ?"     Well if you mix blue paint with black paint you get navy blue.     Andalusian as a color is a lot like that.     In other words, Andalusian in pigeons and navy blue in sweat shirts are both very dark blue and may appear to be black at first glance.     It follows then that you can produce a total Andalusian bird by combining the genes of a Blue pigeon (regardless of it’s pattern) with the gene for Indigo and the gene for Spread.

Spread is a genetic factor that takes the pigment pattern of the bird’s tail bar and spreads it over the entire body.  Since the tail pattern of a Blue Indigo is deep blue and not the normal black, you end up with an Andalusian or navy blue colored bird.    Wait a minute, didn’t I also say that Blue Indigo also looked red.   Well yes, I did and they indeed do.     Since Indigo effects the pigment of the tail bar differently than the pigment of the pattern markings, we get an entirely different effect at both areas.

A blue barless Indigo is solid deep blue while blue bar and blue checker Indigos are both deep blue with rust colored bars and or rust colored checks.     If your birds are carrying velvet or bronze then you get a deep red colored bird with deep blue wing tips and tail.     This too is Indigo and is sometimes referred to as an Ash Red look-a-like or mimic.     However; a homozygous Indigo will appear even more like an Ash Red.     Especially the checker patterns which are a true mimics for ash red.     For me, a Blue Indigo velvet which it's deep red body, deep blue tail and blue wing tips is one good looking bird.     I love the one shown on my first page which is sitting in my apple tree taking a short nap.   He’s a real beauty.

Indigo does not express itself nearly as well on either Brown or Ash Red colored pigeons.     On brown it looks sort of like an Ash Red with a brownish tint.   There is a pic below from Lame Eagle loft which is one of their Brown Indigo checker splash hens.    Since beauty is in the eye of the beholder, Lame Eagle describes her as beautiful.    Others have described Brown Indigo as an icky color.    I say to each his own.

When it comes to Indigo on Ash Red it’s more difficult to tell, as the Indigo effects are hidden by the red coloration.     However; the head of an Indigo Ash Red is always darker that a normal Ash Red.    There is a tendency for the body cover feathers to also be darker when expressed on a check or t-pattern bird.     The end result is a deeper red colored pigeon.     Normal Ash Reds tend to have lighter heads with a more washed out red color.     Indigos whether they are brown, blue or ash will all have a washed out tail bar.     It is never expressed in its normal color form which on brown would be brown, blue would be black and ash would be ash. If the bird carries Indigo then its normal tail color will have been modified accordingly.

Please keep in mind that all of the birds shown here with the exception of one Brown Indigo have Blue as their true genetic color.     That Blue color is being modified by the effects of Indigo and their various pattern marking genes.     The end results are striking and vary from deep blues to deep red to andalusian.     Its outcome all depending on the various patterns and modifiers acting on a Blue color base pigeon with Indigo.

The Indigo gene with the symbol (In) is a partial dominant and is not sex linked.     It was first noted by Wendell M. Levi in 1936 at his Palmetto Pigeon Plant when he crossed a White Carneau cock with a blue racing homer hen.     He gave it the name Indigo. It's true origins are now believed to be from the Carneau line.     It is best expressed when displayed on blue in a heterozgous state.     Now check these out, their great!

Indigo Blue Bar

Here is an Indigo Blue Bar pattern.     Note how the bars are a rust red color while the body and tail a deep blue with washed out end bar. This is typical for Indigo on a blue bar.    This pigeon is also carrying the gene for sooty which is the cause for what appears to be a light check effect.     However if it were the result of the check pattern gene, these markings would also be modified by Indigo into rust color.     Sine Indigo does not effect sooty in this way, they remain blue/black.     Holding her is my Grandson Michael in his red shirt.

Indigo Velvet

Yes, this too is a Blue pigeon (genetically) and not a Red one.     The red velvet appearance is the effect Indigo has on what otherwise would have been its bodies black pattern markings.     These markings are caused by another gene known as T-Pattern or Velvet. The combination of Indigo and T- Pattern or Velvet has modified this birds head and body into a deep red color.     It's wing flights are deep blue while the tail bar marking has become Andalusian blue in color.

Andalusion or Indigo Spread

Andalusian is the spread form of Indigo on a genetically blue colored pigeon.     Spread is a gene that transforms the color of the tail bar area and spreads it over the entire body.     In other words, the Andalusian blue color of the tail bar becomes the basic color of the bird.     When white markings are present, they are not effected by this Spread effect.

Here are some more Indigo birds.
Some were taken at my friend Tom Barnhart's loft.     There is a link to his excellent page in my pigeon links page.

On the left is an Indigo Bar between two Blue Bars (non-Indigo) in Tom's fly pen.     Note the difference in bar colors between these birds.  On the right is one of my Indigo Velvets.   Note the color contrast between the two.   Both are heterozygous indigo on a blue base color so why the vast difference?   The answer is simple.   Indigo effects the marking pattern colors (course spread pigment distribution areas) on blue by turning it into reddish color thus the rusty red bars.  The bird on the right is t-pattern velvet with kite and this bird would appear almost black if, it were not for the effects of indigo.  Since it has more course spread pigment distribution showing, its a much deeper red than the bared bird with it’s limited amount of course spread (bars) displayed.   Both have the same tail appearance which is a dark andalusian color with a slightly washed out tail bar.   The pigment arrangement in the tail bar is smooth spread and indigo effects smooth spread differently by turning it into andalusian.   Had either bird been a spread then the pigment would have been all smooth spread and the bird would be an andalusian all over.

     

   

On the left is one of my Spread Indigos or we call an Andalusian.    Here the bar color is showing through the spread.   This is due to the effects of kite bronze in combination with the other genes causing the course spread of the pattern marking to show through.     There is a cause and effect for just about everything.     On the right is a young Andalusian hen that was my entries at the South Carolina Pigeon Club Show in 1999.     She displays no bronze marking and is a solid andalusian color.  She is a very good example of what andalusian should look like in the show pen.  Genetically both birds are blue spread (black) indigos or as we say Andalusians.  Their only difference is in the effect kite is having on the bird with the pattern showing through. 

   

On the left is a brown indigo checker splash hen with white flights and the gene for dirty.     On the Right is a young blue indigo checker splash with white flights and the gene for dirty.     These two birds are genetically almost the same.     One is on brown the other is on blue.     Both are light checkers with white flights. Both carry the gene for dirty.     Big difference in phenotypes with only a small difference in genotypes.    Note how the colors change when displayed in combination with brown.     Could it pass for a poorly colored red check?     Yes and they often do.     Both have similar tails with the bar washed out.    Brown indigo photo compliments of Lame Eagle Loft, the blue indigo photo compliments of Phillip Stireman.

A Tom Barnhart homozygous Blue Indigo that is a near-perfect mimic for an Ash Red check.     Note how much this homozygous Indigo (double dose of this gene on blue) resembles an Ash Red checker.     The darker head and tail help to show the presence of Indigo.

Kent Hawes of Universal City Texas sent in these two homozygous Indigos.  They are both very good ash red mimics but neither is genetically ash red.  Both are blue, t-patterns with homozygous indigo turning their blue wing shields, necks and heads into deep red color.

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