Ideal

Condition: The bird should be clean and sleek, complete in feather, showing vitality and good health with no sign of injury or disease.

Type: The bird is to taper gracefully and be well proportioned according to the pictorial of the time, (see the title page, standing well off the perch, at an angle of approx. 30 degrees from vertical, with beak tucked deep into mask backline sweeping gently, in a slight concave from the back skull to the tip of the tail. Body line to curve out from the beak through the mask to the chest, and then taper back to the lower tail converts of the tail.

Length: The ideal length is 240mm measured from the crown of the head to the tip of the tail.

Wings: Firmly braced close to the body, neat and not showing too much back. The tips of the primary flights should meet at or just above the cushion of tail. Seven or eight visual primary flights on each wing are acceptable.

Tail: Straight and tight with two primary feathers in proportion to the size of the bird. The ideal length is 35% of the length of the bird.

Head: The head is to be large, rounded and wide when viewed from any angle; curvature of the head is to commence at the cere and lift outward and upward, continuing over the top in one graceful sweep and merge into the backline and shoulders.

Eyes: Bright, set deep in head, well down from the crown and slightly nearer to the beak than to the back of the head.

Cere: Neat and shapely, of a solid and even colour.

Beak: To be smooth and clean.

Mask and Spots: The mask is to be clear, wide and deep, (not cleft) extending beyond two large cheek patches. Where required by variety standards, the mask is to be ornamented by six evenly spaced, large, round throat spots, the outer two being partially covered by the base of the cheek patches.

Legs & Feet: To be clean, with two front and two rear toes and claws gripping the perch.

Markings: Where required by the standards are to be well defined.

Colour: Colour is in all cases to be pure and uniform in tone except where otherwise allowed in variety standards.

Symptoms of Illness — Disqualification
Ruffled, huddled in appearance, sometimes with vomiting and/or diarrhea (often described as ‘dirty’ vent but not to be confused with nervous wet vent).  Remove from the bench.

Presence of Mites — Disqualification
Scaly face – Encrustations visible on one or more of the cere, beak, legs, eyes and vent.

Feather mite – Ragged black or brown markings on feathers, particularly on the side toward the vent area. Remove from the bench.

Presence of Lice — Disqualification
Visible usually on face, mask or neck as black ‘dots’ or fly shaped – flat & fast moving. Each disappear into the feather when disturbed. Remove from the bench.

Deformity or Injury — Disqualification
Feathering—evidence of feather plucking, obvious French Moult, more than two primary feathers

Deformity of Foot/Feet – three or more toes permanently facing forward, inability to grip the perch, missing toe/s or part thereof – not toe nails, callusing on the sole of the foot.

Other major problems – undershot beak, dislocated joints, substantial bleeding.

Penalty

• Twisted primary tail feather/s – the greater the degree of twisting, the greater the penalty
• Broken or missing or twisted toe nails (not toes)

Condition:  Disqualification

• Adult Birds:
  • Cere colour not relating to the sex of the bird, i.e. hormonal change.
  • Both primary tail feathers missing or neither below the secondary tail feathers

Condition:  Penalty

• Presence of pin feathers in adult birds
• Missing flight feathers
• Missing one primary tail feather
• Broken feathers.

The worse the condition the greater the penalty.

Variety:  Penalty

Birds of any variety with:

• Head flecking – The heavier the flecking, the greater the penalty
• Incorrect coloured cheek patches, other than birds entered in the wrong class
• Ground colour spot on back of head or other part of the body other than as permitted in The Standard
• Incorrect iris ring colour – not white
• Incorrect cere colour as required in The Standard
• Cleft, shallow or narrow masks
• Missing (or extra) spots where The Standard requires six. Spots where The Standard requires none. Spots incorrectly presented as required in The Standard
• Feather disturbances – ruffle in neck or chest area
• Wing colour and/or markings not as described in The Standard
• Long flighted and/or heavy secondary flight feather characteristics
• Incorrect tail feather or tail quill colour within the parameters of the variety other than the disqualifiable characteristics
• Length of primary tail feathers not in proportion to the bird

Departure from varietal features as set out in The Standard

• Red eyed self-colours (Lutinos and Albinos) with markings on the head, back of neck and wings – the heavier the markings, the heavier the penalty
• Clearwings that do not have clear & pure ground colour on wings with absence of markings as described in The Standard – the heavier the markings the greater the penalty
• Greywings that have body colour and wing markings varying from that required inThe Standard – the greater the departure the greater the penalty
• Self-coloured birds, Spangle Double Factor and Lacewings with body colour suffusion
• Opalines not showing a clear ‘V’ effect in mantle or with inadequate wing markings
• Apart from Opalines, birds showing body colour on wings, back or neck
• Dominant Pieds showing incorrect markings as defined in The Standard for that variety of Pied.
• Danish Recessive Pieds with barring above the cere and / or wing markings greater or less than that as required in The Standard – the greater the departure the greater the penalty
• Crested – where a bird has multiple crests, crest off centre or has a crest or feather disturbance outside of the areas allowed for in The Standard
• Suffused that have body colour and wing markings greater or less than that required in The Standard – the greater the departure the greater the penalty

Inappropriate or Illegal act by an exhibitor or team carer/s.

Disqualification

• Any evidence of trimming (other than spots) or of dying or bleaching of feathers.
• Any practice that is deemed to be unfair including the tampering with rings.
• Double ringing, be it with plastic or metal.
• Rings other than the correct coloured ring supplied by the B.S.N.Z. for the CYCR classes