Male or Female?

[AD8]

Hi all,

Had my cockatiel now since August and believe Peps was born in May/June but am unsure if Peps is male or female. I was under the assumpion that it was male, however, have noticed the colourings on the cheek haven't changed much so am now thinking female.

Could anyone tell me what they think? Would be good to find out.

 

[MikeyTN]

Since Peps is a grey, simple way to tell is by lifting his wings and check for dots. If the yellow dots go from the primary, wing tip feather, down to the body it is a girl. If half way, part way, or none, its a boy. They start changing their colors during their first major molt that occurs close to 9 months old.

 

[AD8]

I saw some very faint dots but nothing like either of those described. Any other way of telling?

 

[MikeyTN]

What I'm telling you is one of the easiest way to check since Peps is a grey. I just took a picture of one of my babies just to show you, this is a girl! I clipped the primary so this is the secondary feather going towards the body. You see rows of yellow dots!

 

[MonicaMc]

Do you know what mutation Peps' parents are?

Here's the wing of an adult pearl hen.

Here's photos of an adult pied hen

What MikeyTN is talking about, is that in a hen, if the dots are on the long flight feathers between the birds body and the end of the wing (as shown with first image above), then your hen is probably female.

If the spots stop half way (like second image, the hen has spots on her outer non-pied feathers but none on the feathers near her body), then you probably have a male.


This method of sexing is *not* accurate as I have seen young, DNA sexed hens with half the spots.




Susanne Russo of Mousebirds & More shows this best.

Looking at the photo you provided, I definitely see spots on one of the outer flights! As mentioned, the other way to tell is to wait for Peps to go through his or her first molt. This can be anywhere between 4-12 months in age.

I have heard that young male cockatiels typically start singing around 16+ weeks in age where-as hens tend to be quieter. Again, this is not a reliable method as some hens can be quite vocal and some males quiet.

 

[MikeyTN]

I have yet to sex one wrong so far on a adult. On the youngsters it's very typical with the Grey's to be certain coloration and 4 months is too young for a major molt.

Monica before you quote me, please do understand I bred Cockatiels for the past 16 years. I understand with different coloration the dots can vary. With most of what you said and quote are from text books and such. I went through hundreds of Cockatiels, not just a few. I have 7 babies with me right now to add to the list. I have never DNA sex any of my birds and I've been 100% accurate on sexing my adult tiels otherwise there wouldn't be any babies. Once the youngster gets to a certain age, they will show what sex they are if your not able to tell by the dots. While young females can be vocal but they have nowhere the singing ability of a male. If you raise them long enough you can tell the difference between a male and a female chirp.

 

[khaiqha]

I would just wait for the first molt. My friend's tiel was assumed to be a girl from the barring on the tail feathers. Then there was an accident and it lost its tail feathers. When the new ones came in they were jet black. Sure enough, a few months later it did a normal molt and got the bright yellow head.

 

[MikeyTN]

You can't go by tail unless it's an adult! They go through major molt around 9 months of age to as late as a year old.

 

[MonicaMc]

I have yet to sex one wrong so far on a adult. On the youngsters it's very typical with the Grey's to be certain coloration and 4 months is too young for a major molt.

Monica before you quote me, please do understand I bred Cockatiels for the past 16 years. I understand with different coloration the dots can vary. With most of what you said and quote are from text books and such. I went through hundreds of Cockatiels, not just a few. I have 7 babies with me right now to add to the list. I have never DNA sex any of my birds and I've been 100% accurate on sexing my adult tiels otherwise there wouldn't be any babies. Once the youngster gets to a certain age, they will show what sex they are if your not able to tell by the dots. While young females can be vocal but they have nowhere the singing ability of a male. If you raise them long enough you can tell the difference between a male and a female chirp.

Mike, although I realize that having cared for birds and my research with them for half my life doesn't compare to the 16 years you have been breeding cockatiels, it still doesn't make me an idiot!

I was only mentioning about a young (4 month old?), normal hen that had not gone through her first adult molt and did not have the spots all the way to her body. For bird poop and giggles, her owners DNA sexed her, and the results were female. I tried looking up the thread, but it's been so many years ago that I'm not even sure I'm looking in the right place. I just recall that based on her wing dots, most people assumed she was a male.

I am not doubting your information nor experience, only agreeing with you and saying that the wing dot method is not 100% accurate in cockatiels that have not gone through their first molt. Without having experience breeding cockatiels, I would say that the wing method is fairly accurate, but not 100% accurate in young cockatiels. In adults, yes, it's 100% accurate if the pied gene isn't interfering with those feathers!

I have seen cockatiels as young as 4-6 months old already molting into their adult feathers as I have also seen some cockatiels going through that first molt around 11 months in age. I know that diet, when the birds are born and seasons can all effect when a bird molts. (yes, I know, preaching to the choir!)


Since Peps is about 5 or 6 months old, and we don't know if she/he has gone through this first molt, none of us can say for sure! I just know that Casey, my first tiel, whom I had since she was 5 months old, I knew from the start she was a hen! The breeder is the one who gave her the name, and although I never saw her parents, let alone spoke with the breeder, she never did molt out her pearls! And later on, she has laid eggs!



Perhaps what we should be asking is whether or not Peps has started molting, and if so, are the old feathers the same as the new ones? Or do they appear different?

And if Peps hasn't molted out yet, then just to give Peps time to "tell" us what gender he/she is!

 

[henpecked]

I've got loads of tiels,but without looking to the wing ,it's a hen. I too go with the vocals in immature tiels. A hen has never fooled me and a male can't help but give himself away,LOL>

 

[MikeyTN]

They definitely give it away when they do the heart dance with their wings. I think it's adorable when they do that!!!

 

[AD8]

Thanks for the reply everyone. Seems as if the dots go down about half way. Peps hasn't moulted yet but will keep a look out and keep you all updated.