How can you tell by looking?

[RitzieAnn]

As I've stated before in various posts, I'm really new to cockatiel genetics and what not. I breed gerbils, and am pretty decent at their genetics (though there are some that get me still).

I was wondering how you could tell by looking at them, and also I've seen on here that (like when chicks) you can sex some by their colors. Like somebody's red eyed latino... it was a girl?

I posted pictures of Sammy and Cousteau (they've started mating on their own) and I'm still doing research deciding if I should accomidate that for them ;) It just seems confusing to me. Can you see splits visually? I'm assuming splits are like recessive genes?

Just curious- so Here's pictures of some of my babies. What are they? And do you see any visual splits? And how can you tell?

Here's Sammy (the 'standard'?) and Cousteau (Latino)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v675/kristim822/Birds/S5032373.jpg

Tally (the light one) and Martha (the darker one) they are clutch mates
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v675/kristim822/Birds/August22008013.jpg

Birdie (a cinnamon?)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v675/kristim822/Birds/11-25-2007026.jpg

Boomer (a pied what?)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v675/kristim822/Birds/11-25-2007018.jpg

I don't have a close up of Angel, but he's in the middle of the wood perch
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v675/kristim822/Birds/closeup.jpg

I can always get closer pictures, just ask :) But I'd really like if you could point out the things you see that help you decide visually on splits and gender.

I was told by a rescue that Birdie is a girl, and she came to the shelter super thin with a clutch of 6. I also know Cousteau is a girl after all, and that Sammy is a boy, as the two of them have been trying to mate. As far as Boomer goes- I've seen him "humping" his perch on a few occasions. Other than that- I just assume :)

[Danielle]

Lutinos are difficult to visually sex, but if you get them under a strong light you may be able to see some barring on the tails of young babies and older females. I'm not really sure because my monitor isn't very accurate with colour, but your Lutino looks to me like it might be a pearl? Then again, that might just be a trick of light with my screen.

The only split you can visually see is pied. A pied split is expressed by things like a stripe on the beak, or a toenail that is a different colour to the others, or a 'thumb print' of non-body-colour on the backs of their heads.
All others remain hidden, however (as a breeder once explained to me) females are less able to hide splits because of the different sex-linked mutations. It's the boys who can really carry hidden splits. Females tend to express whatever they are visually. For instance, if you have a male pearl with a female who is not a pearl, the resulting girls would express the pearl gene, but the male babies would only be split to pearl, and wouldn't show any sign of being a pearl.

Tally and Martha are pearls. Male pearls tend to 'lose' their pearling when they moult, but females retain their pearl markings. If a pearl looks exactly the same after moulting, it will be a girl. Some males retain their pearling, but I've never heard of it staying the same as it was before their first moult.

I can't tell if Birdie is a cinnamon or not, my computer tends to make all cinnamons look pretty grey unless they're very brown. Female cinnamons usually have fairly bright yellow faces and males less so (unless what I've read is incorrect), if that helps any. On my computer Birdie looks like a normal grey hen, but like I said, I can't really trust my screen.

Boomer looks so much like a picture of a certain cinnamon pied I've seen, but on my screen he looks far too grey to be one. I can't help there, unless he's a pastelface pied? But I think the face is too bright.

I'm kind of trying to practice and learn myself, so I've probably gone completely off-base and totally embarassed myself, so I apologise in advance! I understand how cockatiel genetics work fairly well, but I'm not very skilled at identifying colours and markings yet, I just haven't had enough experience with it.

It would be far easier if my laptop screen had true to life colour like my desktop monitor does!

[kimmikefids]

Danielle did great explaining it all so i'll just tell u what i see with ur birds
Sammy - Male Grey split to pied or lightly pied
Cousteau - Lutino Pearl....most likely female as she still has the pearls
Tally - Whiteface Cinnamon Pearl (depends on age as to what sex each are)
Martha - Whiteface Pearl (genetically it would seem likely Tally is a girl and Martha a boy as Cinnamon is a sex-linked gene which is passed from father to all his daughters....but so is pearl...how old and what kind of behaviours do u notice?)
Birdie - Grey Female i believe tho it would depend on age......
Boomer - Pearl Pied Male as he is loosing his pearls...the yellow areas on the grey will eventually fill in grey
Angel - Lightly pied Grey i would say most likely male but again i would need to know about his behaviour....that is the best way for tiels that cant be sexed visually

[atvchick95]

both sammy and birdie are normal grey split to pied

[RitzieAnn]

Tally & Martha just turned 8. I know they're clutch mates because their leg bands are the exact same, but one digit apart. I was able to track down the breeder even, a few hours south of me. She said the numbers on the band meant 2001. Behavior wise- they're both just really sweet. Martha has come in the car with me, she goes into my jacket (because I put her there) and then she crawls into my sleve and coos. When I open the jacket, she doesn't try to come out, she's just tucked against my body, and loves to be rubbed while sitting there.

I got Cousteau a year ago, and I was told "he" was about 3. I now know that "he" is a "SHE" because Sammy has been mating on her. Another of her....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v675/kristim822/Birds/11-25-2007020.jpg

In a different thread someboy said it looks like Sammy might carry a split to Latino, because of the spot behind his head...?

Boomer I guess (according to my sometimes flaky grandma) came from somebody who hatched & hand fed him. Supposidly he was recently weaned. It took him a while to start talking & whistling. So, according to that- he'd be 4. Here's a picture of him the year I got him:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v675/kristim822/Birds/Kristys046.jpg

I know with the gerbils- it sometimes helps to know siblings... so, just in case... this was Boomers sister (she died) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v675/kristim822/Birds/Kristys043.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v675/kristim822/Birds/Kristys041.jpg

I've not gotten a better shot of Angel yet, but I was told he's like 3 also. The gal had hand fed him. But gave him up supposidly due to her dogs... but after hearing the noises he makes... I'd be inclined to think otherwise. He's got a big brown stripe down his beak.

Another picture of Birdie
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v675/kristim822/Birds/July2223rd2007004.jpg

[atvchick95]

Males will mate with males and females will mate with females just to let ya know :)

you can't visually tell if a tiel is split to lutino, Just pied and that is the spot behind its head, one light toe nail when all others are dark, and or (they can have all 3 things) one light feather out of all darker feathers, any or all 3 of those mean Split to pied

If Cousteau is 3 years old , then most likely she is a female she's a Lutino Pearl (the bald spot on the back of her head is a well known genetic fault in Lutino's)