Male or Female

Allee said:

Beautiful bird. What is his name? I'm not sure when the ring should show up but I know we have members who can answer. I think it's important to know if your bird is male or female in case of any health issues that may come up.

I've been told female birds are generally not good talkers, but my female Quaker would strongly disagree. Not all parrots are enthusiastic talkers, and some are exceptional no matter what the species. If you talk to your bird often and repeat words or phrases you want him to say, more than likely, he will pick up the ones he likes, not necessarily the ones you want him to say.

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RavensGryf said:

Beautiful and cute bird!
I've heard others on this forum before say that the Alexandrine's ring will come in around 3 years? I don't know first hand, but that's what several people said recently.
Also males tend to have much larger heavier beaks than females, but too hard to tell by photo, and hard to tell unless you are familiar with comparing males and females.

Whether females talk as well as males depends not only on the bird, but species as well. The species known to be among the best talkers, females are just as good. But of course there are even African Greys who don't talk, so some is individuality or environmental factors too. In the species that I have (Poicephalus and Pionus) males tend to be much better at talking.

Maybe get another DNA test if you really want to know. Though it's not likely wrong, if you have any doubt that the paperwork of the results might have been mixed up, I'd get another one. Good luck. You have a real cutie regardless! The females can really be just as beautiful.

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Delfin said:

If you keep talking to Echo, then it's most likely that he will start to speak. World renown Avian Vet Rob Marshall told me that the Alexandrian is capable of cognitive speech. You will need a second person to teach the bird cognitive speech. In front of the parrot and with the parrot's attention. with lets say an apple. Hold up the apple in front of the parrot say "apple" and pass it to the second person. then the second person says "apple" and passes it back to you. This can be done this with anything, grapes, nuts, toys, etc.

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Allee said:

Alex's are such beautiful birds and Echo is no exception. It sounds like he is practicing speech. Parrots will do that sometimes, when learning new words or phrases. Are the recognizable words he says getting easier to understand? The Alex's I've heard have clear pretty voices, I bet Echo will too. Do you let him watch TV or listen to the radio? Not suggesting you encourage Echo to be a perch potato, but sometimes they will pick up words they like the sound of.

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Diesel_Hyland said:

Sorry looks like a female hen to me...may be wrong but our wee mans splotchy black feathers and pink rear neck feathers are coming through and he's just over 2. I know they are all different, but your wee one's head is quite rounded. Males tend to be a lot more 'flat'.
Just my opinion. Will need a DNA.

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Delfin said:

It can take up to three years for the ring to appear. This could happen at the next moult, but if it hasn't appeared by three years I would say the he is a she.

If you keep talking to Echo, then it's most likely that he will start to speak. World renown Avian Vet Rob Marshall told me that the Alexandrian is capable of cognitive speech. You will need a second person to teach the bird cognitive speech. In front of the parrot and with the parrot's attention. with lets say an apple. Hold up the apple in front of the parrot say "apple" and pass it to the second person. then the second person says "apple" and passes it back to you. This can be done this with anything, grapes, nuts, toys, etc.

Remember not all parrots will talk. It's a bonus when yours does.

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RavensGryf said:

Delfin said:

If you keep talking to Echo, then it's most likely that he will start to speak. World renown Avian Vet Rob Marshall told me that the Alexandrian is capable of cognitive speech. You will need a second person to teach the bird cognitive speech. In front of the parrot and with the parrot's attention. with lets say an apple. Hold up the apple in front of the parrot say "apple" and pass it to the second person. then the second person says "apple" and passes it back to you. This can be done this with anything, grapes, nuts, toys, etc.

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Reminds me of when I would hold Robin and show him to Raven, and look at Robin and point to him and say "Robin", then the same vice versa with Raven. They now say each other's names. I think only when jealous lol.

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UMARKHANMARDAN said:

Hi Baby birdie Your birds are so beautiful.Alex & even IRN will show full ring when they reach to the age of two or three.At this stage its not confirmed whether its male or female.The only way is DNA test.Another thing your bird is too small & is in learning stage.Please note that talking ability vary from bird to bird within the same species.Some birds even in the well known talking species Grays may not talk.I have a female Alex which is an excellent talker.One thing more how much a bird talks its not important what matters how much its attached to you.

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dragonlady2 said:

In the first picture, your bird does look male. My Alex didn't begin to show any of his ring until 18 months and then it was a very few pale pink feathers on the back of his neck. I was checking for the black feathers and the tiny pink ones caught me by surprise. He should begin showing something soon. Keep looking for those pink ones, they might surprise you! Just as an FYI, my Oliver talked a lot and just suddenly stopped, probably due to more birds added to the flock. He occasionally will say the odd thing, but nothing like he used to. Sometimes they talk, sometimes they don't. My male Barrabands are not supposed to be great talkers, but they have the largest vocabulary of all my birds and chatter non-stop all day. You just never know.

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