Jasper: Male or Female Meyers parrot?

[HeatherG]

Here’s a photo of Jasper. Do you think he’s a boy or a girl? He has yellow on one side only of his forehead—the side that’s most visible in the photo. Also has a bit of yellow on epaulettes and tiny bit on ankles.

 

[Laurasea]

Here’s a photo of Jasper. Do you think he’s a boy or a girl? He has yellow on one side only of his forehead—the side that’s most visible in the photo. Also has a bit of yellow on epaulettes and tiny bit on ankles.
View attachment 44911

Such a beauty!!!!!!
I'm terrible at guessing. When will you send out DNA?

 

[HeatherG]

Such a beauty!!!!!!
I'm terrible at guessing. When will you send out DNA?

I honestly hadn’t thought of that. When he came to me I was told he was male but I’m seeing much more yellow on the boy Meyer’s parrots heads. When he came to me he was having boy Meyers parrot behavioral issues. Now we are avoiding them (issues).
Here’s Jasper mugging for the camera:

 

[HeatherG]

I checked Jasper’s pelvic bones and now I really wonder if Jasper is a female. They are so widely spaced I can almost put a finger between them.

Jasper is pretty ok with me touching him and wasn’t upset about that. He? was already out and perched on my hand. I was reading and he was biting the newspaper covering my lap. Hmm. Maybe I should have fewer chewy things in Jasper’s cage? I sure don’t want an egg. Jasper is persnickety enough without eggs.

 

[Rozalka]

Here’s a photo of Jasper. Do you think he’s a boy or a girl? He has yellow on one side only of his forehead—the side that’s most visible in the photo. Also has a bit of yellow on epaulettes and tiny bit on ankles.
View attachment 44911

It's impossible to tell it without DNA test - amount of yellow depends on a subspecies, not gender.

 

[HeatherG]

It's impossible to tell it without DNA test - amount of yellow depends on a subspecies, not gender.

Really? I thought Meyers parrots were somewhat sexually dimorphic, the color differences being in the turquoise/ green on the tummy and the yellow on crown and epaulettes.

I’m guessing Meyers parrot subspecies have been mixed in aviculture and now it’s more difficult to tell the difference between male and female.

You are correct, the different Meyers subspecies do have different amounts of the bright markings. What I’m thinking is that the mixing of subspecies makes it harder to discern the slight coloration differences between male and female. For a not so good example, perhaps if you had a male of subspecies that had less yellow on the crown, it would resemble a female of subspecies with more yellow on the crown.

I was told Jasper was a DNA’d male; and when he came to my home he had the young male aggression and territoriality problems. But I am noticing some hen-type sexual behaviors, some crouches and begging, a certain piercing whistle, and also very widely spaced pelvic bones.

I don’t have any longer Jaspers original contact info so I can’t find out what’s been verified by dna test and what’s been guessed or supposed.

 

[HeatherG]

Jasper and I had some snuggle time, but Jasper gets bored with that. He is on his tree perch eating a piece of apple and listening to the tiny noises my phone makes.

I usually feel like I ought to hold him if he’s “out” but it seems he’d like to explore his tree. So that is what he’s doing right now. When I put him on the tree he puffed up and stretched out to look big and fierce before he relaxed a bit. Funny!

 

[HeatherG]

Jasper eating a bit of apple on his tree perch. Once he got done, he immediately plopped from the tree to the foot of my bed and did a big bird stretch.

 

[onamom]

Jasper is so handsome! I love his color contrast.

 

[HeatherG]

Jasper is so handsome! I love his color contrast.

Thank you! I will be sure to tell him.

It’s really funny; when he chooses a place to perch, he has to puff out and put his yellow epaulettes out as if he’s twice as big.

I have to let him posture like that and not bother him or I will get a good pinch. It seems like just doing the pose makes him act more aggressive. Otherwise he is a nice gentle bird.