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I am looking up colour photos to try and tell what colour my newest lovebirds are. I think they are Dutch Blue or the other one was a Aqua (Turquoise) Peachface.

Is it possible for the same colour to have more then one name?

Most definitely. Several mutations have more than 1 name!

Dutch Blue = Aqua
Whiteface Blue = Turquoise

Is that because each breeder came up with a name as they bred what they thought as new?

So I would be right if I called them Dutch Blue or Aqua Peachface? What name is used more?

The name differences in this case are a matter of different societies naming the birds. "Dutch Blue" (which is officially no longer called "Dutch blue," but rather just plain "blue") is what the ALBS (African Lovebird Society) has named this mutation in the US. The ALBS also gave the name "white-faced blue" for the other mutation. "Aqua" and "Turquoise" are the European names for these color mutations. Both are acceptable. Which one you use would depend more on what country you are in, because more people will understand what you are talking about if you use the names most commonly used in the country that you live in.

There are other color mutations in the US that have more than one name. "Dilute" is probably the best example of this. In the green series, a dilute is also called an "American yellow." In the blue series, a dilute can be called "American white" or "silver." The "official" name given by the ALBS is "dilute," but this one is more recent, so a lot of people still know them or refer to them by the other possible names.

Maybe I am not that creative, but I am going to call one of my new birds "Aqua" and the other "Dutch"

I will try to get photos of them soon, but the camera flash is not helping!

Thanks again for your help

When did they phase out the name Dutch Blue? I have always heard people call WF Blue by just the name "Blue." It really bothers me because people hear "blue" and assume there is only one, but there are really 3 different types of blue series birds, Aqua (Dutch Blue), Turquoise (WF Blue) and AquaTurqoise (Seagreen).

I have been talking to another breeder who said she had an DDF Aussie for sale. She didn't have a picture so I asked if it was a Blue series and if so, which one. She responded by saying, "All Aussies are blue, and I have no idea what you mean by 'which one.'" I explained to her that there are green Aussies and that there are the 3 types of Blue series. I think she was either embarrassed or mad that I had said that and corrected her, she never responded back. Am I wrong here???

I must be from the old school since I still use the terms Dutch, WF Blue & Seagreen to describe the blue series birds.

And you are right about the Aussie Cinnamons. There are both green and blue series. I would imagine you "ruffled her feathers" but honestly, I do get a tad impatient with people who do not know their genetics.

Sally

Thank you Sally,
I felt like I may have insulted her, but she is a breeder like me and supposedly knows her PF Lovebird mutations. I have found though that there are a lot of people who breed PF Lovebirds and have no idea about "proper" or "technical" terms for mutations. It does irritate me since if you are trying to sell to another breeder, you should be able to talk genetics and be understood. I personally go by the ALBS terms (which, last time I was on there, maybe yesterday, were still Dutch Blue, WF Blue and Seagreen), though I understand the European terms like Apple Green, Mauve and the like. I will even make sure the people who buy my birds know the technical terms for the mutations and they are clearly stated on the hatch certificate.

ALBS is the group that is responsible for nomenclature here in the U.S. We have not officially changed mutation names so you get people using old terminology and those who are already adopting the new terminology. On my own board, we use both. Since it's U.S. based, we use American terminology and put the European terminology in parenthesis. That way, there are associations to both and it will be easier to make the transition once it becomes official.