How to tell male or female by behavior?

[Hay Kay]

What are some of the things females do when being "nesty"? for instance is it a female thing to crouch and put the tail up in the air and flap the wings a bit?

IS it a male thing to stand up tall, fan out the tail feathers and hold the wings out and dance? What if they do both?

or do both genders do both?

 

[SkyBaby]

The only reliable way to be sure of gender in sexually non-dimorphic parrot species is to do a DNA test.

I have two indian ringnecks. One is a DNA'd male (yellow in my siggy) and the other is assumed male due to behaviors like dancing and making a heart shape with his wings. Both of them do that. I can't be sure about the one I haven't DNA'd yet because he's younger than 2 years of age. Males will get a black ring around the neck starting at 2 years of age.

In parrots like macaws and cockatoos, the only way to know for sure is to DNA test.

 

[Welshanne]

Until my Greys were DNA'd we thought they were both boys, turned out to be both female.
One of my last two fostered birds was always thought to be female, turned out to be male.
The only sure way of knowing is to have the test done, well worth it to rule out any egg laying problems if it turns out to be a male. They can be ruled out immediately if there is any illness in the future.

 

[Anne & Gang]

i have no idea since im always wrong and now have an egg laying tiel named Mitch...lol

 

[Hay Kay]

lol i knew the only SURE FIRE way was DNA - my vet said their was no need to DNA him yet. and sunny never cuz she's laid an egg(her old owner had had blood work done every year but never got her DNA'd so im assuming especially after talking to the vet that DNA is something you specify wanting along with blood work?).
I was just wondering cause sunny crouches low and puts her tail up in the air and flaps her wings.. (in the vet report from her near fatal egg adventures this was "nesting behavior" and felix does that too.. but he does the wing dance.. i was just curious cause if it is more female i need to really read up on egg binding..lol

 

[Holiday]

I do think there are differences in behavior, but it can be tricky, because some individuals exhibit behaviors we might associate with both genders.

Okay, now, that being said, confidentially ( ), I do think that females are more likely to crouch and give you the glamour eyes, LOL.

My mature female macaw is one of the "girliest" birds I've ever seen in my life: she flirts, she poses, she does glamour eyes better than Bette Davis, and if you tell her she's pretty, she drapes a wing over her head and vogues. I'm not kidding. I swear, if she had eyelashes, she would bat them. How anyone could have thought she was male and named her "Elvis" is beyond me. She wasn't here more than a few days before I started to think I had a gal on my hands. But, of course, this is all in good fun and very, very unscientific. I didn't know for sure until I had the DNA test back

 

[Hay Kay]

wow i wana meet Elvis for sure! thanks so much for everyones input