# Lutino..male or female?



## Jen144

My cockatiel is about 6 months old, and I've been calling it a 'he' just because it's easier than saying he/she..
He is a Lutino. (Which I randomly chose when I bought him, not realizing he is one of the hardest mutations to sex) I've heard that Lutinos all basically look the same, unlike normal Greys where the face is really different from male to female..then I've also heard that it is the same with Lutinos, males have a bright yellow face and bright cheek patches..and females have the barring on their tail and darker faces.
Which is true?


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## Renae

If you know what the parents are it makes it easier to sex.

Some mutations are sex-linked and you can often tell the sex of these by knowing the colors of the parents. Lutinos, Cinnamons, and Pearls are common sex linked mutations. Basically, if the father carries the sex-linked color either visually or as a split and the mother does not visually show that color, (females can't be split to a sex link mutation — yes, this is backwards from humans and other mammals) any babies with that coloring are female. When the male parent is split not all of the female babies will be the mutation color but all babies of the mutation color will be female.


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## kimmikefids

lutinos loo the same with sex...except sometimes with the females...in certain light...u can see barring on their tail and wing spots in a yellow on the white...also if its a female it may have pearling on its back and wings....its very hard to see tho and just because u dont see it doesnt mean its a male...i would say at 6 months behaviour would be a better way to tell....does the tiel whistle and/or talk? or does it just make the same sound? only males whistle and talk (very rarely a female will do it or a male will be quiet but its rare) they will also do heartwings where it holds its wings out slightly to make a heart shape...generally accompanied by its talking and whistling and things like head banging...hope this has helped!


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## sweetrsue

It isn't true that the female has a paler cheek spot. Not even in a normal gray. They only appear paler because they have the body color on the face. Since Lutinos have no gray there is no immediate visual cue to which sex they are. You should be able to see tail barring in strong light tho. At this age however there may still be barred feathers even on a male. Just check out shed tail feathers. There should also be wingspots on the primary wing feathers.


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## Jen144

Okay. Solace, I got him from a petshop actually so I have no idea as to his parents. kimmekefids, he does all of what you described for a male..singing, whistling, holding his wings out, tapping his beak on things..he is quite loud whistling all the time to my budgies and to the wild birds outside, as well as whistling to me when I come in the room.
sweetrsue, I can't see anything on his wings, and becaus his tail feathers kept snapping off recently I don't know if he has barring on them. He did, a few months ago, but I don't think he does now.


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## Terri Peters

Jen144 said:


> Okay. Solace, I got him from a petshop actually so I have no idea as to his parents. kimmekefids, he does all of what you described for a male..singing, whistling, holding his wings out, tapping his beak on things..he is quite loud whistling all the time to my budgies and to the wild birds outside, as well as whistling to me when I come in the room.
> sweetrsue.


HA! My Holly did all of that also. Once she had me and most of the members of this forum totally confused *she* laid an egg...LOL


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## tielfan

With lutinos, mature females have barring under the tail and mature males don't. But it's trickier than checking the tail of a grey bird, because some female lutinos don't have enough contrast between their white and yellow tones for you to see the barring. Strong light definitely helps when you're looking. 

But your bird is only six months old so it might be too soon to tell anyway. When he/she is a year old, visible barring under the tail will be a pretty strong sign that she's a girl. No visible barring under the tail will be a sign that MAYBE he is a boy. If you really want to be sure, you'll need to get a DNA test. For what it's worth, female lutinos outnumber males because it's easier to produce a girl than a boy.


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## sweetrsue

The wingspots might be the only thing left to check.






A female Lutino would have spots in the same areas but if yours is replacing the spotted feathers with solid colored one you have a male. The behavior sounds male to me


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## kimmikefids

the behaviour makes me put my money on a male.....sometimes a female will do it...like Holly...but thats pretty rare.....i think u have a little man!


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## Aly

Do you have a few pics? Like the others said, it's very difficult to sex but I am ussually very good at making a decision based on posture and body. Behavior wise, from what you're describing you have a male..possibly. Post some pics if you can.


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## Jen144

Aly, I have a heap of pics of him in my signature, are they too small though? They are most of the pictures I have of him but I can post bigger versions if that will help?
sweetrsue, by wing spots do you mean that barring on the wing feathers of that picture you attached? If so, then no, he doesn't have any wing spots.


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## sweetrsue

The stripes on the tail feathers are usually called barring and the wing markings are typically called spots but Baby (Alys bird in that pic) does seems to have long thin markings on the underside of the wings. But yes that is what I'm referring to. If your bird doesn't have them it is a boy. Try getting a hold of a shed wing feather and look at it under very strong light. They might be there but are hard to see. Also the tail feathers should have a solid color (Yellow).


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## Aly

I didn't see the sig before for some reason, sorry. Based on how he's sitting I would have to guess boy.


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## sweetrsue

I see it! It stands like a boy. Feet close together. That and everything else you have said says boy to me.


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## Jen144

Okay cool. My guess was right then lol. He just seemed like a boy. 
Anyway, thank you all for the help.


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