Ivory - Europe
iv//iv

©Hein van Grouw

The picture below is the Ivory from France - what they are now calling Argentè

©Fanch Gourvès - France

Ivory is an autosomal recessive mutation which appeared separately both in Italy & the US. The Italian Ivory is the founding stock of the Ivory population found in Europe today.

Addendum: J Pire: The dark phase seen here is not the originally described mutant in either area. The light color phase was the first found & described & officially names IVORY; this dark phase on D+ (wild type) came years afterwards. This phase is available in the US by a few fanciers. Breeding for this mutant is also easy to accomplish. As in mutations, there will be color variation & all may not be indicative of the submitted pictures.

The plumage appears to have a dilution effect similar to Blond (Fawn) but the Ivory is a bit more gray than Blond. The primaries appear more dilute & have a more pronounced white tip than in Blond. A tiny stippling effect of dilute pigment is shown in the primary coverts, and in the primaries themselves in the middle of the feather. The plumage of the head & breast is very light gray almost white. The color of the neck ring is dark-gray. The tail band is also bleached.

The eye color of the squabs is red like White. The eye color of the adult dove is  more dark but noticeably lighter than Blond.

The above description applies to the Ivory on a dark background (single mutation form). Ivory on a Blond background yields a very light colored bird with a dark neck ring. This light Ivory is also called Show Ivory. The color Cream appears when Ivory is combined with Rosy. This is a light tan bird with a gray neck ring.

European Ringneck Colors