The difference between blue, seagreen, and white-faced can be difficult to determine for the novice.  However, it is not impossible!  First, it is good to understand exactly what these colors are and how they are genetically different from each other.

Blue (formerly known as “Dutch blue”) is a recessive factor that most everyone knows.  Recessive mutations require that a bird must have TWO genes for this mutation in order to be visually blue.  The blue mutation changes the color of the body of a lovebird to a greenish-blue color.  Instead of a full peach face, blue lovebirds have a melon colored forehead and the cheeks are a very pale color that is grey-white, sometimes with a hint of melon.  The beaks of blue lovebirds are a horn color.

The white-faced mutation often causes the most confusion.  Problems arise from not correctly understanding this mutation.  “White-face” is more correctly called “white-face blue.”  It is another kind of blue, recognizable as different from the other blue discussed above.  White-face blue is also a recessive mutation, meaning that TWO white-face blue genes are necessary in order to produce a visual white-face blue lovebird.  The most distinguishing factor about these birds is that their foreheads are white instead of melon.  The color of the body is a truer blue shade than blue lovebirds (which have a greenish hue to them).  This difference is sometimes hard to recognize unless you look at a blue and a white-face blue bird side-by-side.  The beaks of white-face blue lovebirds are pink, instead of horn colored.  *Please note that since “white-face” is not an independent mutation (it is truly “white-face blue”), it is impossible to have a “white-face green” or “white-face Dutch blue” lovebird.

With an understanding of the two above mutations, seagreen should be fairly easy.  Seagreen is a combination of the above two factors.  Normally, if a bird has a single blue gene, it is visually a green bird.  The same is true for a bird with a single white-face blue gene.  However, if a bird has one blue gene and one white-face blue gene, then they are visually seagreen.  This is because blue and white-face blue are different mutations of the SAME gene.  Genes come in pairs.  The way these pairs work together determines the visual colors of our lovebirds.  When one blue gene is paired with a normal (non-mutated) gene, the normal gene is dominant and the bird appears visually green.  When a single blue gene is paired with a white-face blue gene, there are no normal (non-mutated) genes to be dominant.  Therefore, these two different blue mutations work together to produce what we call seagreen.

Seagreen lovebirds (sometimes called “Apple green”) are not green birds at all (which is why “Apple green” is not a correct name).  They are actually the results of a bird with two BLUE genes.  However, their body colors are a green color that is similar to “seagreen” in the Crayola crayon box.  They have melon colored foreheads (just like blue lovebirds) and their faces tend to keep more of a pale melon color in their cheeks and chin.  If you look carefully at the beak of a seagreen lovebird, you will find that the upper portion of the upper mandible (the area closest to the cere) is white (like in a white-face blue lovebird), and this white fades to a horn color closer to the lower portion of the upper mandible (the area near the point). 

It is notable that these mutations are hard to distinguish in young birds.  Seagreen babies have a distinct body coloration, so they are usually easy to tell apart from the others.  However, blue and white-face blue babies look extremely similar.  Young birds that have not yet gone through their first molt do not have their full face color in yet, so this is not a reliable way to distinguish them.  Young birds that are blue or white-face blue also have a black coloration at the top of their beaks as babies.  Until this fades and a few months pass so that the beak can attain its true color, the beak cannot be used to distinguish the blue babies from the white-face blue babies.

To help add to some of the confusion, there are many white-face blue lovebirds that do not have pure white faces.  Exhibitors and serious breeders are working towards birds that have and retain a pure white face.  A large portion of white-face blue lovebirds have some shadings of peach peaking through on their foreheads.  It is important to note that these birds still are white-face blues (just poor examples of them) and NOT regular blues.  It is the genetics that truly determine which color a given lovebird is, not just the visual appearance.  In these cases, the melon color on the foreheads of poor white-face blue lovebirds usually is not deep and solid as that on the foreheads of blues and seagreens.  Also note that while the forehead color of poor white-face blues is not a clear white, their beaks will still be pink (rather than horn colored).  Regardless of whether they are good representations of their particular color mutation, they will pass on their genes based on what they are genetically.  

Sometimes, the best way to determine what color lovebird you have (if it is a youngster) is to find out what color exactly the parents were.  Two blue parents would mean that all babies are blue.  Two white-face blue parents produce all white-face blue babies.  If pairing a blue bird with a white-faced blue one, you will get all seagreen babies.  A blue paired with a seagreen will produce 50% blue and 50% seagreen.  A white-face blue paired with a seagreen will produce 50% white-face blue and 50% seagreen.  The only time the color of the babies will be truly in question is when a seagreen bird is paired with another seagreen bird.  This pairing will produce 25% blue babies, 25% white-face blue babies, and 50% seagreen babies.

(The pictures below were submitted by Jessica Miller)

Whiteface beak and Blue beak

Seagreen Beak