The agate, also known as the first reduction factor, is a diluted form of black-yellow. This thinning mainly affects the tips of the contour feathers and the large pins. This gives the agate a slight fringe of wing and tail feathers, making it appear as if brown and black have been toned down — but this is only partially true. What exactly happened? The brown phaeomelanin is influenced by a factor with a diluting effect. This gives the appearance that black and brown have bleached out, but in reality it is a reduction in the number of brown pigment grains.
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