Male? Female?

[feywick1]

Hello!

I picked up my little nugget, Zuko, a while ago. He is my second cockatiel, still in a quarantine cage.

The person who sold him to me said he was male, and my gut feeling also tells me he is, but I'm a bit paranoid that they might be wrong. I should've done a DNA test but now I don't want to do one anymore since he has been building trust with me and I would hate to ruin that. I've added some videos below.

At the previous owner's place
(I was paranoid it's not the same bird but I'm pretty sure it is, the cage was the same and markings match, I think the contrast in their video is just set high to make the markings appear more stark)

At my place:

He hasn't sang at my place yet, which I'm not too surprised by since he has only been here for a week. But his behaviour and attitude makes me think what they said is true?

 

[texsize75]

Hmm.
The bird looks like a pearl mutation more than a pied mutation.
Age is important .
Pearl coloration is a female only or before first molt on a male.
So if the bird is young (before first molt on) could be either boy or girl but if it’s a year old or so I think female because it looks like a pearl mutation more than a pied mutation.

 

[feywick1]

This bird definitely didn't have its first molt yet, he's around 3-4 months old. He's pearl pied.

 

[texsize75]

This bird definitely didn't have its first molt yet, he's around 3-4 months old. He's pearl pied.

At that age you just can’t tell by looks.
But if the bird is relatively vocal than it’s probably a male and will loose the pearl coloration.

Otherwise DNA or wait for the first molt.