# Please help me identify the sex! Picture included



## LucyKemp (Jul 26, 2011)

HI all,

Yesterday I bought my first Cockatiel.. The pet shop let's just say is pretty dire and the staff were disinterested completely in the birds and therefore couldn't tell me the age; the guy did say he thinks its a boy but I took his comment with a grain of salt due to the little knowledge he knew about the birds. 

Does this look like a male to you? How old do you think he/she is?

Thanks!

Some info on how it's settling in, getting the bird into the cage was a nightmare! It isn't a hand reared bird however after a lot of flying around the room he eventually went onto my finger and back in his cage. I have been placing him on the entrance to the cage with it open, to which he stays still and watches me and when I try to put him back in when I leave the house or room he hesitantely will go on my finger but not fly out which is really nice!

Today he/she was taking millet from me and I stroked it when it did, so some progress i think!!


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

it is a pearl cockatiel, you wont be able to tell until its molt. if the pearls stay, the bird is a female. if they turn grey and disappear, bird is male. but if there is whistling, beak banging, heart wings, talking, you can safely guess the bird is male. unfortunately you dont know how old the bird is, so you cant figure out if the bird is boy or girl...


but if i were to place bets, id like to guess female! most pearls are female... but you have a good chance of getting a male too... but its because the pearl gene is sex linked (meaning if the father carries the gene, his daughters will be pearl. to get boys, the mother must be a pearl paired with a male who carries the pearl gene. so better chances your bird is a girl. but when it molts next, thats when you will know). if you are really impatient on telling the gender, you can always get a DNA test. theyre not overly expensive and theyre quick. i got my male lovebird DNA tested and i got the results the day they received my blood card!


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## LucyKemp (Jul 26, 2011)

I was told it was a normal grey!! The bird is very mute, what age do they chirp and whistle??


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

if male, the bird may whistle between 3-11 months old... and the bird is a pearl. not a grey. only males whistle and maybe talk. females generally just chirp. but they all chirp when babies... which you dont know if yours is... so its basically a waiting game, but i want to guess a girl for yours. just have a hunch


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## JaspersMomma (Dec 11, 2008)

If this is an adult then she's a female. Most pearls loose their pearling as they age if they're male (but I read somewhere that some lose their pearling slower, I don't know how true that is) and will become a Normal Grey split to pied. Glad you rescued her from that pet shop!


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

if a male pearl loses the pearls, its still a pearl. theyre interesting. but you are right about some males losing pearls slower. those would be pearl pieds, they take forever to lose the pearls. this one is a regular pearl, no pied i can see in the feathers.

if you look at my siggy, tsuka is a male pearl, and dally is a female


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## LucyKemp (Jul 26, 2011)

WHen i play youtube videos of other cockatiels whistling, she does single whistles, is this normal in females or could it be a boy?


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

either gender  both will call like that to youtube videos


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## JaspersMomma (Dec 11, 2008)

DallyTsuka said:


> if a male pearl loses the pearls, its still a pearl. theyre interesting. but you are right about some males losing pearls slower. those would be pearl pieds, they take forever to lose the pearls. this one is a regular pearl, no pied i can see in the feathers.
> 
> if you look at my siggy, tsuka is a male pearl, and dally is a female


I'm shaking my head at myself! I don't know why I said split to pied, I guess Jasper's on my mind this late lol. And I guess I meant he'll look similar to a normal grey, how I worded it sounded odd, but I think I should stop while I'm ahead. Lmao! Anywho thanks for adding the info on the pearl pied. Where I read that info it didn't specify why/how, so now I'll know!

And LucyKemp: Girls and boys can both be vocal so while it can sometimes be an indicator, it's not a sure sign.


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## LucyKemp (Jul 26, 2011)

Ok, I called the pet store and they say that they get the birds in at 12 weeks, so mine has to be around 3-4 months i'm guessing. Is this too early to tell if it's a male or female?


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## JaspersMomma (Dec 11, 2008)

Yes it is too early. At about 6 mos - one year when s/he molts the adult feathering will come in.


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## LucyKemp (Jul 26, 2011)

They told me on the phone that "they sold the last male on the weekend" so it is a female, how would they know this??


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## JaspersMomma (Dec 11, 2008)

I highly doubt a pet shop would invest in DNA sexing, but it's possible they could have done that. They're "on staff vet" as some proclaim to have could have also visually sexed them, but when i first took Jasper to a vet he suspected that Jasper was female.....of course he was still young then. Lastly, they could have just lied. Many people may want a male for the singing capabilities and if the bird is whistling that's what they may go with...


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

i agree with jaspersmomma. the pet store could have lied, though i do suspect your bird is female. just have a weird feeling lol cant explain it more than that. unfortunately you dont know the age of the bird


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## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

There is a pet store about an hour away from me that has all their birds tested for diseases before selling them, so it might be possible. 

I am going to say female too, though I could be wrong.


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

Im going to say female too 

I got told my lucky was a male when i got her from the pet shop and it was a few weeks i noticed that she wasn't a boy as things didn't add up lol 
Wait till s/he settles in then you can go by the behavior


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## LucyKemp (Jul 26, 2011)

I've gone out and bought a male now, I HOPE he's a male, he's a grey with very bright yellow face and cheeks, dark grey body and tail and a white patch around the shoulders. Does this sound like a male? He is however mute, the girl is playing with him nicely, approached him cautiously and tried to feed him; now she is "pruning"him it seems although shes eating the feathers???


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## LucyKemp (Jul 26, 2011)

When I play cockatiel sound clips, the girl is going crazy and whistling in a single tone. 

Do all cockatiels do this? I thought the girls chirp, but this is definately not a chirp. It's a high pitched whistle every few seconds!

The boy is a mute


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

yes thats a male and it takes them a few weeks to settle in their new homes


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## LucyKemp (Jul 26, 2011)

The girls talented, i'm surprised how tame she is considering shes not hand reared. She will jump on my finger and let me walk around with her! sometimes flies off but eventually gets back on, even if shes in the cage she will take a "lift" so she can get to my other hand with a stick of millet


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

I find the females are more trusting then to the males


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## LucyKemp (Jul 26, 2011)

Thanks for your quick response all, what a nice community!

How certain are you he is a male??


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## JaspersMomma (Dec 11, 2008)

The new bird you have is 100% male with his yellow head and bright orange cheeks. If he were female/immature he would have a dull face.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

yes he is definately male!


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

and the high pitched chirp is both male and female, its called flock calling. theyre calling to the youtube video


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