This article is about the difference between the quality of a bird in a show cage and the quality of a bird in the breeding cage. And more importantly about the correlation between them.
Before I can begin talking about difference and correlations between these two types of quality. I will first define "show quality", "visual quality" and "breeding value" as these will be the core concepts of this article.
First up: "show quality". This quality refers to how closely a bird resembles the ideal. I will not go into detail about the ideal. Other people are more qualified then I am. Nevertheless it's fairly easy to determine. Submit your birds to a show and talk to the judge afterwards. Buy him/her a drink, even if he put your bird last. Ask him/her about the good and bad features and have him/her compare it to your other birds. Alternatively you could invite the judge to your aviary. But most judges are also top breeders so you might get a different appreciation then strict "show quality".
This brings us to "visual quality". Some faults are heavily penalised on a show. Like a bird that had a tail all its life but just drops it an hour before judging. Or a bird that while judging doesn't sit straight but is acting like a couch potato. You can't blame a judge for putting it last, he/she can only judge what he/she sees at that time. Judging at a show is an appreciation of a bird at that moment in time. This is also why you should not be judgemental toward a judge and just have an open talk about your birds. If you're not experienced enough, invite an experienced champion breeder to judge your birds. He/she might ask for the pedigree. Let him/her judge them without the pedigree first.
What the experienced champion breeder wants to do with the pedigrees is look for similarities and dissimilarities between relatives. If for instance you've got an excellent cock but it is flecked. If it comes from clear headed parents and its siblings are clear headed too then the flecking will not inherit strongly into its offspring. If the flecked cock comes from a family of flecked birds then you can expect flecking in the offspring.
With these similarities and dissimilarities between relatives the experienced champion breeder is trying to get an insight into the "breeding value" of a bird. Breeding value means: what kind of offspring can I expect from this bird. In the example of the flecked cock, the breeding value of a flecked cock from clear parents will be higher (i.e. less flecked) then the flecked cock from a flecked family.
By combining the "visual quality" of a bird with the quality of relatives you can try to predict the "breeding value". But the only true test for the breeding value of a bird is by breeding with it.
There is quite some experience and experiments with selection in a lot of other species. What we see in those is that for the vast majority of traits pedigree is more important than visual quality in selection. And by selecting this emphasis on pedigree only becomes stronger.
I can't emphasise enough the importance of breeding value. Breeding value is what you need in your parents. The most important aspect in your selection is how well you can predict the breeding value of your potential parents. And selecting on "visual quality" is a very rough estimation of a birds potential in the breeding cage.
An important consequence is that you will do better with average birds from a top breeder than the top birds from an average breeder. This is if you get the birds from the top breeder to breed. Because fertility also is important when it comes to selection.
Side note: Breeding value depends on the stud. If you have a stud with no flecked birds you can cautiously use a flecked outcross. If you already have quite some flecking in your stud then you will need a clear headed outcrosses.
(C) Bert Raeymaekers
This article has been reproduced wiht permission on Budgerigars by Barrie Shutt: Quality V Quality.