Always DNA

So we have had a bit of a revelation this week; my handsome boy Kaleo is actually A GIRL! Oops.



I had been suspecting lately based on some sexual behavior fitting for a female, but I had been told by the breeder (a good freind and respected mentor of mine) that she was male. This was based on pelvic points and head shape, two things that are very often used to determine sex by experienced breeders. I would say this particular breeder seems to get it right about 90% of the time in fact. But this time the info was incorrect, and had Kaleo begun experiencing medical problems my lack of understanding of her sex could have cost us precious time and thus could have cost her life. It could also have led to misreading sexual signals and creating a very frustrated bird who turned mean with that frustration.

So I'm taking this opportunity to plug DNA tests which I encourage everyone to do. Knowing the sex of your bird is important to their health and safety even if you never intend to breed your bird or if you "will love them just the same either way." In the USA it costs $12-$25 to get this potentially life saving info.

In other news, it turns out that 3 out of the 4 babies I kept back this season are female! Girls everywhere!


Cyrus, Ransom, and Fury and girls (above) and Rebel is a boy (below)
Sorry for the old pics, since we are currently moving I'm actually in Minnesota and my feather babies are in South Dakota and Hawaii still. Moving forward and getting closer to being all together again!


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Great advise! Anyone that has been around Parrots for a long enough time will get stumped by them from time to time! DNA is so simple, it should be a standard part of a New Parrot blood screen!

Thanks for the reminder!

Great news and post, Dani!

The science of DNA is spectacular!

I agree. I tested Layla because her eye color is a little unique and I wanted to be certain and her previous owner mentioned the parrot store where she was purchased that did her nail trims suspected she may be a he. Luckily Miss Layla is in fact a Miss and now I can be sure to watch her close for female medical problems. Avianbiotech had my results to me in less than 24 hours too. Super easy process for a little peace of mind.

I'm not advocating going out to DNA sex your Eckie obviously lol.

And it's true that IRNs are sexually dimorphic as adults. However some birds can take over 3 years to get their rings.

I wish I had tested Kaleo sooner. Fortunately *she* hasn't had any health issues in the mean time!

I will also admit to postponing Titan's (my GCC) DNA test for over a year because I was so sure she was male. I hand raised her from the day she hatched (please let me never have to do that again) and was calling her "he" the whole time. I know some people don't DNA because they have become attached to the idea of that bird as a specific sex and don't want that ruined, but trust me, the bird knows which they are and they DONT CARE which pronouns we use for them. They do care if they are misdiagnosed and die or suffer because of it.


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