What is going on with my cockatiels?

Background: I believe Chico is a male and Bella is a female but I have not had them DNA tested. They have been in the same cage for years and rarely interact but if I remove Chico from the cage, Bella becomes irritated and loud. Bella is not hand tamed.

Today when I woke up, they were making a lot of noise which isn't usual for them. So I watched them for a bit and saw that Bella was chasing Chico away from the food dishes. This has happened once before. Last time, I put my hand in the cage and fed Chico by hand. He was happy and she hasn't done that since. Today I tried feeding him by hand and she chased him away from my hand, which is weird because she never comes near my hand. So I took him out, fed him, and put him back. They were fine. Now I just looked over and she is just chasing him around the cage. He isn't trying to eat, she is just chasing him. She isn't attacking him but she is touching him with her beak.

ha!, my cockatiels do the same thing, I have 3 in a large flight cage, 1 is definate female, (Tundra)she chases my other cockatiel.(Blossom) It's just 3 months old, and not sure of the sex. Yet she leaves the 3rd cockatiel alone, it is 6 months and I don't know the sex, but believed to be male. I'm wondering if the one she chases is female(dominant behaviour?)...btw, good question.

Bella is definitely female!

Chico sounds like a male. Does he do heart wings? Does he sing? Do you have a black light and/or really good eyes? If Chico is a male lutino (i.e. not a pied lutino), then he wont have any stripes/bars on his tail feathers or on his rump... or any spots in his wings. If female, then 'she' would have them.


Unfortunately, it sounds like typical behavior. You can make sure that there's always two food dishes and plenty of perches, but if Chico wont leave Bella alone, you may need to put them in separate cages side by side.

I am fairly positive Chico is male, but I'm not as sure that Bella is female. Chico does not have visible banding. Bella clearly does. They both make the same type of noises. Chico does heart wings, but not as much as he did before we got Bella. It is Bella that chases Chico. I have 2 dishes in the cage, but it doesn't make a difference because she will just chase him away from whatever one he goes to. It isn't a constant thing so I think it should be okay. I was hopeful that they would get along great but it has been a few years so I doubt they will be best friends.

Must have read it backwards then!

Bella has all the signs of being a hen! The dark colored face and the stripes on bars. Can't see wings/rump, but appears female to me!


Normal adult male feathers...







Pearl (i.e. not normal) female markings (or immature pearl male - markings vary on birds!)







Pied Hen - pied feathers do not have markings on them






Immature lutino male - has markings! As an adult, his markings should be gone now.




Susanne Russo has the best sex-determination photos that I've seen! Or great informational photos in general!
Sexing Cockatiels - Just Cockatiels!