How to determine the sex of a cockatiel parrot?

These friendly natives from the Australian continent originally had a natural predominantly ash-gray color. And only an elegant straw-yellow head with bright ruddy apples on the cheeks stood out against the modest plumage of gullible birds. The first Europeans who became the owners of these parrots were not at all difficult to determine corella is it male or female.

The popularity of cute sociable birds grew rapidly and bird lovers diligently engaged in the selection of cockatiels. One by one, new species appeared. And with them a rather difficult problem arose – “How to determine the sex cockatiels? ‘.

Gray, light gray, white, albinos, pearl, pearl, cinnamon and other types of cockatiels in the process of artificial selection mixed sexual characteristics in plumage. Determining the sex of the bird became extremely difficult. And the number of lovers of these cute parrots is only growing these days, and everyone is worried about one question: “How not to make a mistake and buy exactly a male or female cockatiel?”.

It seems that if you look at the cockatiels shown in the photo of males and photos of females, then there is nothing easier.

Let’s try to figure out how to distinguish a male from a female in cockatiels

To begin with, we divide the parrots into two groups according to their color.

In the first group, we will select birds whose plumage is dominated by natural colors. These are primarily gray and dark gray, pearl-pearl, cinnamon colors and others close to them. In this group, it is much easier to determine the sex of cockatiels by the color of plumage than in the second. And in it we will include albinos, whites, all kinds of yellows and others in which the natural gray color is completely absent or very insignificant.

Signs of males and females in the first group of cockatiels by feather color:

• The head of the male is always pure yellow with bright cheeks. The female is dominated by a gray color on the head and the cheeks are much paler. (left boy, right girl)

• The very tip of the boy’s tail is sharp and thin. In a girl, it looks like a shovel, slightly rounded at the bottom.

• On the inner side of the wings of the female, light oval spots are clearly visible.

• On the inner tail feathers of females there are thin frequent transverse stripes of a darker color.

1 – male, 2 – female, 3 – male, 4 – female.

All these signs can be seen only after the so-called juvenile molt, that is, the first in the life of a chick. It begins after six months and lasts up to two months, finally ending by the first year of life. The soft loose feather changes to dense plumage with rich color.

Before molting, all the chicks of the first group are colored exactly the same as the cockatiel girls, and even an omniscient parrot breeder will not tell you how to distinguish a male from a female.

How to determine the sex of cockatiels of the second group?

Since these birds, with the help of humans, have practically lost sexual dimorphism in color, it is more likely that the sex of cockatiels can be determined only by their sexual behavior. Although the transverse lines on the inside of the tail and light spots under the wings are difficult to see, but can be seen in females. Of course, provided that the first molt is over.

There are common signs in both groups of birds to determine the sex of cockatiels:

• The female is always somewhat larger than the male in appearance and weight.

• The crest on the head of the male at the very base is more voluminous than that of the female, so the forehead of the male seems to be wider.

• The male can jump like a sparrow, jump over obstacles on two legs. The female walks in a waddle “duck”, rearranging her legs alternately.

• The male sings a lot and in a variety of ways, although seasonally. The female only calls invitingly.

• In the hands of a man, the male behaves more calmly, the female swears, bites, breaks out. This is especially noticeable in birds kept in an aviary.

• If a bird laid an egg without a male, it is 100% clear what gender it is.

• When a male leks, he sings and taps with his beak like a woodpecker on any surface or objects, while bending his wings into a heart, moving his shoulders to the sides.

• The male is more mobile, energetic.

• Young males may sit on the backs of girls, showing early sexual interest.

These distinguishing features of males from females may have exceptions.

Experienced breeders over the years of breeding cockatiels have repeatedly met in their practice singing females and males with a transverse delineation on the tail. And although experts spend days on end with their pets, observing their behavior, they still cannot give an absolute guarantee to determine the sex of the chick until the end of the juvenile molt. Therefore, people who purchase birds at the age of two months often do not get what they wanted as a result. Namely, this time is considered the best for acquiring a parrot. At this young age, he quickly gets used to new conditions and the owner.

Photographs of males and photos of females are sent to cockatiel breeders so that professionals can determine the sex of the bird from them. It is almost impossible to do this from a photograph. Birds should be observed “live”, in their usual environment, and the sex of cockatiels is determined for sure only by analysis of flushing from the cloaca and analysis of the feather.

Only by bringing together all the signs by differences in color and sexual behavior of a given chick, it is possible to determine its sex with almost absolute certainty. And this is obtained not earlier than the first year of the life of a parrot, when its color becomes like that of an adult. Only in two cases can you absolutely accurately determine the sex of a parrot. First, the female laid an egg without the male. And this is possible only after a year. And the second is the result of the DNA analysis of the bird. This is not an easy and costly business.

In conclusion, we can advise – get two birds at once. The probability of hitting will double and the parrots will have more fun together. Who knows, maybe you will become a new breeder of this wonderful breed.