# At 4 months age, do cockatiels know their sex/gender?



## LT2009 (Oct 20, 2009)

I have a cockatiel (Baby) that I bought at 7 weeks age (now 4 months old). Last week, I bought another one (Ali) that is about 4 months old who is supposed to be male (no DNA). Ali, who is larger, has been attacking and chasing Baby since the start. Baby initially was scared of Ali, but now keeps on approaching Ali and making strong efforts to be friendly to Ali.
Is it likely that Baby is a male and Ali is a female and that is why Baby is trying to be friendly with Ali? Do tiels know that sex/gender at 4 months?
If Ali is a female, are females so aggressive to claim territory and chase males away?


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Apparently cockatiels can identify each other's gender at an early age and can become sexually active at four months old. My chicks have been waiting a little longer than that (5 months old) but so far they've all been successful in choosing an opposite-sex chick to get romantic with.

Males tend to be more aggressive than females but there are no hard and fast rules. With any two birds of any sex it's likely that one will be more aggressive than the other. When you introduce a new bird, sometimes the old one will be aggressive and defend its territory. But sometimes (like in your case) it's the other way around and the new bird is the aggressor. 

It's best to keep these two in separate cages for now. It's possible that they will eventually become friends but it's also possible that they won't. Even if they never become friends they will still form a flock bond and won't want to be too far apart from each other.


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## Duckie (Feb 13, 2008)

What I know about sexing (which isn't much :blush, usually around 4 to 5 months the tiels should start to show what sex they are. Generally, males will start to sing, bang their beak etc. Females will not make much noise. Now I only know how I figured out what Ollie was. I was not sure when he was born, but around 4 months old, he started singing just as his dad, Memphis does. Maya does not do anything like this. However, I know there are females out their who show male traits.
I hope this helps some


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