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Diagrams courtesy of Cédric Guillemant: 'Diamants mandarins et ses habitats' © 1991
There are many mutations known to exist, including:
Pied: splotches of white feathering are present on the bird, sometimes so much so that the birds' characteristic markings are completely whited-out. Some birds are so heavily pied that they appear all-white with absolutely no markings, not even the teardrop; these birds are known as fully-pied whites. Pied can be combined with any other mutationWhite: both cock and hen are completely white (no markings, not even teardrops), sometimes with some minor grey or fawn flecking on the head & back of the bird. The way to tell the difference between the sexes is by the colour of the beak - cocks have the red beak, hens have the orange beak
Fawn: everything which is normally grey on the bird becomes a light brown colour. Markings remain intact. Fawn can be combined with many other mutations, including pied, black breasted, black cheek, penguin and more
Chestnut Flanked White (CFW): both cock and hen are an all-over ivory white colour, but the cock and hen retain their respective markings (even the tear drop is intact). Usually the cock's cheek patches, breast bar and flanking are slightly diluted and seem paler in comparison to the markings on a normal bird
Recessive Silver: the normally grey body of the bird appears dark silver, being lighter in body colour than a normal bird. The markings all remain intact and as vibrant as on a normal bird
Dominant Silver (Silver Pastel, Dominant Dilute Grey): bluish-silver body, similar to recessive silver except that the cock's cheek patches and flanking are cream in colour, not orange
Dominant Cream (Cream Pastel, Dominant Dilute Fawn): pale cream (diluted fawn) body colour where the cheek patches and flanking on the cock are a creamy-fawn colour
Penguin: the top of the head, back and wings are the normal body colour (laced or edged with a silver lining to edges of wing & tail feathers) but the underparts (sides of body, breast and belly) are all bright white - the cock has no breast bar or teardrop but retains flanking & cheek patches. The hen has white cheeks in addition to the white breast and belly and no tear drops. Penguin can occur in combination with other mutations (silver penguin, fawn penguin, black cheeked penguin, black breasted/orange headed penguin, etc)
Light-Back: light grey body with diluted cheek patches and flanking on male, while retaining deep black breast bar & tear drops. Can be combined with a number of other mutations for interesting results including black-cheeked, cream, silver, blackbreasted etc.
Crested: birds have a rosette of feathers above the centre of the head, the feathers sticking almost straight up, and growing in different directions. Can occur in combination with any other mutation
Yellow-beak: both cocks and hens have a pale yellow beak instead of a red or orange beak. Can occur in combination with any mutation, but looks particularly attractive when combined with a dark-bodied bird to create contrast
Black-cheeked: the cock's normally orange cheeks are completely black in colour and the flanking is a much deeper brown-black. Strangely enough, the hen of this mutation also sports black cheek patches but she does not have a breast bar or flanking. This mutation can be combined with many others to create attractive-looking birds
Grey or Fawn Cheeked: silvery-white to cream body with rich buff underparts. Black breast bar and tear marks are present. The cheeks however, are not orange but range from orange-fawn to grey. Both sexes have cheek patches but the hens do not have breast bar or flanking
Orange-Breasted: teardrops are absent on both sexes, the once-black breast bar and barring on the cock becomes orange in colour, his cheek patches become enlarged, and both the cock and hen's tail coverts are orange and white spotted instead of black and white spotted. Can be combined with other mutations
Black-Breasted: enlarged black breast bar, enlarged orange cheek patches (sometimes so enlarged that they cover almost the entire head), the white 'spots' on the flanks and tail coverts are elongated, teardrops are absent on both sexes, and the wing and tail feathers often have an orange tinge to them. May be combined with other mutations
Black-Faced: the normally-white area between the beak and teardrop is black, and the cock's breast bar continues down past the chest onto the belly, ideally all the way down to the vent so that the entire belly is black. Hens have grey extending past the chest and down the belly instead of black. Can be combined with other mutations
Florida Fancy / Isabel: bright white to off-white body colour with rich buff-colored underparts. Cock's breast bar is absent & neither hen nor cock have teardrops. Cocks retain cheek patches & flanking. May be combined with several other mutations
Combination Mutations
Orange-Faced: combination of Black-Faced and Orange-Breasted. The entire area from chin down to bottom of breast and occasionally parts of the upper belly are orange in coloration. Also the majority of the head is orange. Feathers on the back and wings may be orange or laced with orange as well. Cocks retain flanking, but do not have a black teardrop nor the white space near the beak, as they are orange
Orange-fronted: combination of Black-Breasted & Orange-Breasted. All of the would-be black areas on the bird are orange & the cheek patches are enlarged enough to cover most of the head. The entire breast is also orange
Black-fronted: combination of Black-Breasted & Black-Faced. Enlarged orange cheek patches, black area between beak & cheek patches, almost entire breast & belly is black
Phaeo: combination of Florida Fancy (Isabel) & Black-Breasted. Ideally the entire head is orange with the exception of the white area between the beak and cheek patch (the teardrop is replaced with orange). The rest of the back and wings are white with heavy orange lacing, the underparts are fairly buff, breast bar is ideally absent.
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