Male or Female

[Marloz]

One of my cockatiel lost a tail feather. I'm really confused it has both sexes sometimes acts like a male other time female so I'm wondering if it's tail feather can tell me the sex.

 

[barry collins]

Send it for DNA testing if you want to be sure... somewhere in Spain does it for about £4.50.

 

[Marloz]

Send it for DNA testing if you want to be sure... somewhere in Spain does it for about £4.50.

I live in Australia, can I do it myself

 

[barry collins]

I live in Australia, can I do it myself

Not sure but the Spanish one is by post so it should still work it will just take a while?

 

[barry collins]

I live in Australia, can I do it myself

Here is an ozzy one.

 

[barry collins]

Avian DNA sexing

 

[Sparky04]

How old is your cockatiel? Most mutations are sexually dimorphic once they get their adult plumage. If you post a picture, we might be able to help.

 

[Marloz]

He/She is one year old.

 

[Tiel Feathers]

Very pretty! Has she gone through her first big molt? If so, you probably have a female because a male will loose his pearls, although I have heard that some males can retain their pearls and a yellow face is a better indicator of a pearl male. So I guess to answer you, I don't know! Does he chatter or display any male or female behaviors?

 

[Sparky04]

Hmm, according to this website, males with pearl and pied will keep their pearl markings! I never knew that. If it's true, it could make this really difficult lol.

I did some more research and it seems that a pied pearl male will keep his pearl markings but will lose the spots on the underside of his wings as he gets his adult plumage. Behavior can definitely give you a clue, but isn't always reliable. If your bird whistles, sings, or talks, it's more likely they're a boy, but there have been females who whistle and talk like males. Here's some pictures of the wing spots. Hopefully it can help.

Source:
Sexing Cockatiels - Just Cockatiels!

 

[Marloz]

Like I said before it acts both male and female. It whistles and can only say Good Boy but yesterday I saw it crouching and making soft chirping sound with it's tail in the air

 

[barry collins]

When it lowers its head and makes a chirping noise does it walk forwards or do a tiny little hop at the same time because that is a male trait. All my young boys do it to show off to the girls. They lower and slightly spread their wings and make a repeated low chirping sound while slowly walking around and sometimes doing a little hop? However the pearls in your picture look strong for 12 months old and a yellow head in a pearl pied cockatiel is common in females as well as males. So I don't think looks alone are going to tell you but the behaviour might give a better clue. If not DNA is the way.

 

[Marloz]

When it lowers its head and makes a chirping noise does it walk forwards or do a tiny little hop at the same time because that is a male trait.

No just stands in one place don't move while chirping and showing it's bottom

 

[barry collins]

All that you have said and the pictures lead me to believe it may be a girl. The only thing that goes against that is the talking but girls have been known to talk and imitate whistles. I have 3 boys and 3 girls, all 3 girls make cockatiel noises while all 3 boys copy me, each other, my family and the wild birds outside. The girls only ever flock call and they seem to need company more than the boys who are a little more independant. But that is only my experience with my birds and not in any way conclusive. Try playing another cockatiel noise on YouTube and see if your bird gets noisy. A male will usually go crackers whistling at a strange bird where as a female will usually sit and listen intently for a minute before deciding to make a noise. All little things that might help you.

 

[Monica]

Here's Tomi Girl. She whistles and lays eggs! (pied hen)

And Casey.... also female... cinnamon pearl pied. No male traits. Just...... the video......

 

[Marloz]

I caught it doing it again and I got it on video but won't let me upload it

 

[Marloz]

I caught a it doing it again

 

[Lady Jane]

A feather for DNA must be plucked fresh. It's usually more than one feather.

 

[Monica]

Need to upload to Youtube, Facebook or another video hosting website, make sure video is public, and share.

 

[barry collins]

Here's Tomi Girl. She whistles and lays eggs! (pied hen)

And Casey.... also female... cinnamon pearl pied. No male traits. Just...... the video......

This video is a good example of a girl making girl noises. And the pictures above show that girls can have a yellow face when pied. If your noises and actions are anything like the video I would guess you have a girl. But if you don't think the noises or actions are similar then you may have to upload a link to your video.