Is my male cockatiel actually a female?

[Zara]

Welcome to the Avenue

@Monica has left fantastic posts as always

 

[tressny]

Whoa. Yup that is a very broody birdie. I'm not sure what to say. It's strange that she's so "obsessive". There are things you can do to limit hormones like this - try giving her at least 10 or 11 hours of sleep, to start with. Offer her different things to do (toys, foraging dishes, etc) to keep her occupied and make sure she doesn't have access to hollows that would stimulate her nesting hormones. You're definitely right that it's a problem. It's unhealthy for birds to see humans as mates.

Maybe if you start a new thread asking advice on how to deal with a nesty bird you'll get more help.


@Ripshod @Zara off the top of my head - do you have some advice?

Thank you again for such a quick reply. Her cage is in the living room. Even though days are short, I mostly hang around in that room in the evenings. Maybe that's one of the problems. I guess she's getting 9-10 hours of dark through the day. I'll try to extend that to 12 hours from now on.

Her cage is already crowded with toys, and she plays and chews on every one of them, especially the one with the bell. I make sure to rotate them sometimes. And every once in a while, I crumple a clean paper and pierce it through one of her favorite perches. She loves chewing on them too. So I'm guessing I have no problem with keeping her occupied in the cage. I don't think there are nesty looking places in the cage or the room.

For now, length of nights seems to be the only problem. I'll make sure to solve that. Hope she'll get out of it soon. I'm so grateful for your support, thanks.

 

[Sodapop&Co.]

Thank you again for such a quick reply. Her cage is in the living room. Even though days are short, I mostly hang around in that room in the evenings. Maybe that's one of the problems. I guess she's getting 9-10 hours of dark through the day. I'll try to extend that to 12 hours from now on.

Her cage is already crowded with toys, and she plays and chews on every one of them, especially the one with the bell. I make sure to rotate them sometimes. And every once in a while, I crumple a clean paper and pierce it through one of her favorite perches. She loves chewing on them too. So I'm guessing I have no problem with keeping her occupied in the cage. I don't think there are nesty looking places in the cage or the room.

For now, length of nights seems to be the only problem. I'll make sure to solve that. Hope she'll get out of it soon. I'm so grateful for your support, thanks.

That all sounds great! I'm sure she'll be a healthy happy well-adjusted bird, living like this! And hopefully once she's settled in more she'll calm down with the broodiness and accept your friendship without any weirdness.

 

[Monica]

I'm wondering if she is in fact older than what the shop told you.... although females can display at a young age.

My cockatiel Casey, whom I've had since she was 5 months old, still displays this exact behavior! She will be 19 *YEARS* old this year. She does occasionally lay eggs, too... Getting a male for her would be pointless, she doesn't understand the "birds and the bees", nor how to sit on her own eggs.

Your hen could very well be different! (no, I don't recommend getting a male, you could potentially lose her as a companion)


There's a possibility that the base of her cage could be causing her to be hormonal.... maybe it's toys or the substrate in her cage? Maybe it's something else?

 

[Ripshod]

Distraction, distraction and more distraction. Going on her looks she's starting to mature, around 9 or 10 months old. Her behaviour is confirming this, she's reaching sexual maturity and is seeing @tressny as a mate.
I assume this bird was sold as a male, DNA sexed, returned as a female, resold to you as a 'young male'. Pet shops do do this as young males are easier to sell.
This bird sees herself as yours now, and it would be cruel to return her though you can still take issue with the pet shop.
Going forward this hormonal behaviour should last less than 8 more weeks now, so keep her busy doing things by herself. Hide treats around her cage, get her busy with toys, you can even work on some target training while you have her attention.
Make sure she gets at least 10-11 hours a night of silent darkness.
If you can't break this behaviour get a safe soft toy for her to attach to and hopefully work out her desires on.

 

[tressny]

Hello again. Thank you for your replies.

I'm wondering if she is in fact older than what the shop told you.... although females can display at a young age.

I suspect that too. If he lied about her gender, he could have lied about her age as well. Though, she looked a little smaller than the others back there. That's what convinced me that he(!) is younger. I'm not sure if she grew in size since then.

My cockatiel Casey, whom I've had since she was 5 months old, still displays this exact behavior! She will be 19 *YEARS* old this year. She does occasionally lay eggs, too... Getting a male for her would be pointless, she doesn't understand the "birds and the bees", nor how to sit on her own eggs.

Sorry to hear that. So there's a chance my girl will never return to normal? This is already very heartbreaking for me. It would be burdening to watch her maintain this behavior for years.

Your hen could very well be different! (no, I don't recommend getting a male, you could potentially lose her as a companion)

Different, as if... "special" ? I hope you didn't mean that.

I'm not getting her a companion right now for sure. But what if she never quits doing that? Would it still be a bad idea?

There's a possibility that the base of her cage could be causing her to be hormonal.... maybe it's toys or the substrate in her cage? Maybe it's something else?

I took some pictures in the cage, if there's a possibility something in the cage could have made her think "Yay that's a nice place to lay my eggies fertilized by my weird looking giant birb!"

This is how higher zone looks like. Just some toys and perches. She mostly hangs around here.



General view of the bottom of the cage:



Her food dish. She used to sleep in it before but now prefers higher perches, fortunately.



Her big round platform perch to relax her feet now and then. She doesn't seem to be very fond of it. (There are 3 more platform perches but they are a lot smaller.)



A small dish with bird sand in it, if she feels the need. It's at the bottom of the cage. I've never seen her around it.



A food dispenser just in case I won't be home for a while to feed her. It's placed lower in the cage. I've seen her eat from it only 3 times.



Those are the objects in her cage that looks the most suspicious to me. Small chance, but still. I can't think of anything else.

Distraction, distraction and more distraction. Going on her looks she's starting to mature, around 9 or 10 months old. Her behaviour is confirming this, she's reaching sexual maturity and is seeing @tressny as a mate.
I assume this bird was sold as a male, DNA sexed, returned as a female, resold to you as a 'young male'. Pet shops do do this as young males are easier to sell.
This bird sees herself as yours now, and it would be cruel to return her though you can still take issue with the pet shop.
Going forward this hormonal behaviour should last less than 8 more weeks now, so keep her busy doing things by herself. Hide treats around her cage, get her busy with toys, you can even work on some target training while you have her attention.
Make sure she gets at least 10-11 hours a night of silent darkness.
If you can't break this behaviour get a safe soft toy for her to attach to and hopefully work out her desires on.

I don't think I can look myself in the mirror if I return her. Never. I'll do everything I can to fix this issue. Even if I can't, it's not the end of the world. I'll keep her.

I'm going to extend her night hours, starting today. And I'll give target training a try to distract her. I actually thought about getting a toy bird and placing it on one of the perces. But I read somewhere that it's not a very good idea for cockatiels. But in her case, it can be a last resort.

Thank you all for your time. I appreciate your support.

 

[Ripshod]

4 Easy Ways To Deter Breeding Behavior – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.

Find out why you might want to rethink your pet bird's cage setup, how long you leave the lights on, the type of foods you feed, and even the way you pet and interact with your bird.

lafeber.com

 

[Tiel Feathers]

Since you’ve already received some good advice about her hormones, I just wanted to mention a few things about her set up. If you put the platform perch up higher, she will use it more, and parrots don’t need sand or grit since they hull their seeds and it can cause them more harm than good.

 

[Monica]

Sorry to hear that. So there's a chance my girl will never return to normal? This is already very heartbreaking for me. It would be burdening to watch her maintain this behavior for years.

I'm just saying that you may never completely stop your hen from being hormonal, as it could be something that occurs for her entire life.

It's not to say that you can't lessen her hormones so she doesn't want to mate and reproduce, just something you'll need to deal with.

Different, as if... "special" ? I hope you didn't mean that.

I'm not getting her a companion right now for sure. But what if she never quits doing that? Would it still be a bad idea?

Different... as in, maybe she'll understand the "birds and the bees". As in, she'll accept a male cockatiel in her life. As in she could raise chicks.

Casey has *NO* interest in mating with a male cockatiel and she honestly doesn't understand how to sit on her own eggs. This is not normal behavior for a cockatiel, let alone a hen. However, as I have no interest in breeding her, this is perfectly acceptable to me! It is from my understanding after all that she was an incubator hatched baby so she never really got a chance to learn about "birding" from her parents.


I'm not against people getting their birds a companion as long as they understand that the two birds may never get along and need to be kept in separate cages. I am however against people getting their birds a companion simply because their bird is hormonal. Many birds are so bonded to humans, or, like Casey, they never learn to "bird", thus getting them a mate wont solve anything! You could end up with two sexually frustrated birds instead of just one!

Birds are not like dogs and cats where they generally remain friendly and tame when they have offspring. Most birds become aggressive and it's possible will no longer want human interaction. If you want a pet, don't encourage breeding behaviors! If you have a breeder, don't expect your breeder to be a pet! It's possible, but don't expect it.

 

[tressny]

Since you’ve already received some good advice about her hormones, I just wanted to mention a few things about her set up. If you put the platform perch up higher, she will use it more, and parrots don’t need sand or grit since they hull their seeds and it can cause them more harm than good.

But the guy who sold me a maturing female cockatiel instead of a baby male said they need sand for digestion. So he's got to be right, right? This is my bad though, not doing my own research about this. Thank you for bringing this up. I'll remove the sand bowl immediately

 

[tressny]

Different... as in, maybe she'll understand the "birds and the bees". As in, she'll accept a male cockatiel in her life. As in she could raise chicks.

Oh, I got it all wrong, sorry. I'm relieved.

I'm not against people getting their birds a companion as long as they understand that the two birds may never get along and need to be kept in separate cages. I am however against people getting their birds a companion simply because their bird is hormonal. Many birds are so bonded to humans, or, like Casey, they never learn to "bird", thus getting them a mate wont solve anything! You could end up with two sexually frustrated birds instead of just one!

Looking at it this way, it does seem like a selfish thing to do. But I promise, the thought in my head wasn't "Oh, if I get her a male partner she'll woo him instead of me!". I just thought she would be happier, and we could be friends again. Plus another friend. Learning now that it's not that easy, like throwing another bird in the cage and saying "Go on, mate!", I'll only consider it as a last resort. I hope it won't come to that. Thanks.

 

[Tiel Feathers]

But the guy who sold me a maturing female cockatiel instead of a baby male said they need sand for digestion. So he's got to be right, right? This is my bad though, not doing my own research about this. Thank you for bringing this up. I'll remove the sand bowl immediately

Unfortunately he is mistaken. I think that many people used to feed sand or grit a long time ago, but now it’s known that it’s not needed.

Foods Toxic To Pet Birds – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.

Knowing what foods are toxic to birds is vital. Foods on your avian vet’s do not feed list include chocolate, avocado, onion, high-fat and high-sugar foods.

lafeber.com

 

[Monica]

There's really no telling how two different birds will act. Casey has been around males, including one that was interested in her, and she simply didn't care! She has no interest in mating with me, either, so I don't have to change how I interact with her... but at times, I do have to change something to lessen her hormones.

 

[camelotshadow]

Some females lay eggs not all but some...can be chronic. There are things that can be done to discourage it. Many before you have traveled that road. Its to be researched. Luckily I have never had a female do this but some do...things like light etc...it coud just be a phase...It could just stop with an egg every once in a while...Lets hope so..

 

[tressny]

Hello again. I'll just leave some update for people who have the same problem. As some of you have suggested, after a week of long nights, (11-12 hours of darkness) everything seems to be back to normal. She still does it occasionally but I'm sure it's just a matter of time before it's gone completely. I'm still avoiding petting her for now, just in case. But we can communicate without any weirdness. And that is a huge step!

Also, as @Ripshod mentioned, target training works wonders to distract her. I bought a clicker with an extendable stick attached to it and she loves chasing it! It's fun too! Touch the tip, get the seed. So simple, yet so effective.

Thank you all again, and have a wonderful day!

 

[Sodapop&Co.]

Hello again. I'll just leave some update for people who have the same problem. As some of you have suggested, after a week of long nights, (11-12 hours of darkness) everything seems to be back to normal. She still does it occasionally but I'm sure it's just a matter of time before it's gone completely. I'm still avoiding petting her for now, just in case. But we can communicate without any weirdness. And that is a huge step!

Also, as @Ripshod mentioned, target training works wonders to distract her. I bought a clicker with an extendable stick attached to it and she loves chasing it! It's fun too! Touch the tip, get the seed. So simple, yet so effective.

Thank you all again, and have a wonderful day!

Glad to hear everythings going well!!

 

[SunUp]

Hello again. I'll just leave some update for people who have the same problem. As some of you have suggested, after a week of long nights, (11-12 hours of darkness) everything seems to be back to normal. She still does it occasionally but I'm sure it's just a matter of time before it's gone completely. I'm still avoiding petting her for now, just in case. But we can communicate without any weirdness. And that is a huge step!

Also, as @Ripshod mentioned, target training works wonders to distract her. I bought a clicker with an extendable stick attached to it and she loves chasing it! It's fun too! Touch the tip, get the seed. So simple, yet so effective.

Thank you all again, and have a wonderful day!

You're doing a great job!

 

[TTMango]

Hi all. So I decided to get a pet bird for the first time and stumbled upon these beauties. They were recommended for first time bird owners so after doing some research, I was set to get a young, male cockatiel. Got my eyes on one of them in a pet store. Owner said he's a two months old male. Perfect! So I brought him to his new home. He wasn't hand tamed and pretty scared of me when I brought him but after 6 weeks, I think we made a lot of progress. I did my best to keep him happy and to get him to trust me. Now he easily perches on my finger, my shoulder, even plays with my beard.
Thing is, he just let me pet his head for the first time yesterday, and I was more than happy. But something weird is going on ever since. Now whenever I get close to him, he bows his head and raises his tail, making these quiet chirping noises. Keeps doing it while being head rubbed. Please check the video.

cockatiel2 - Streamable

I've read about petting birds before, so I was careful not to pet him on the back/chest/wings not to give him a wrong message. Only head rubs for now. But what's going on here? From what I've read, I suspect this is female mating behavior. What the heck? Did shop owner lied about his gender? Also, even if he is a she, isn't it too soon to get hormonal for her? She was about 2 months old when i got her, add 6 weeks and she should be 3,5 months old, 4 at max. So he lied about her age too? Seriously, what the heck?
Also, she sometimes makes sounds as if she's trying to talk or whistle. Here's an example:

cockatiel1 - Streamable

Can female cockatiels do that? I'm confused. I won't return him/her or anything, he/she is still too precious to me, no matter what gender or age. But still, can't help wonder. What's my friend's gender? And how old do you think he/she is? Any advice/insight is appreciated.

 

[TTMango]

I got my cockatiel in 7/2020 and was told it was a 4 months old Male Cockatiel. After having it for 2/3 wks I caught my bird doing a female mating behavior. My bird wasn’t vocal at all so I was convinced that it was a girl. Now I’m confused what gender it is. This passed 3 days my bird learned how to say peekaboo and do wolf whistles. I thought female birds don’t talk! So I decided to do a bird DNA. I should get a result soon. Fingers Crossed, hope it’s a BOY.
Did you ever find out if your bird is a Male or Female???

 

[Skum]

Yes, your bird's pose meant it was inviting their mate to mount them, without a doubt. The sounds echoed those feelings too. I think that males might show behaviour like that but you are right that it is a normal female action. Male would be more likely to do heartwings at you or even try to mount your hand. I don't think that you can positively sex a bird just by these behaviours though, which is why I'm not certain. Some birds get confused depending on their situation and environment and will act strangely.
Friendzoning sounds like a good plan. I have the same problem with my dove, Damien, and have had to stop all cuddling and kissing lately. Dang it's hard. I miss loving on my baby

I had a male for 24 yrs and he never did that