# am i confused or are they?



## trail_rider (Jan 14, 2009)

The two tiels i got i thought the grey was the male and the lutino was the female, but now i am doubting this. I know that one of them is a male and one of them is a female for sure, because i seen their babies from last summer. what is making me think this is the behavior that i am seeing from "lily" he/she has been doing alot of beak banging and chewing on the hole of the nest box. and there has been alot of wing displaying infrom of the box too. any insight?


----------



## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

If one bird is normal grey it's easy to figure out its sex from its color pattern. If it has a bright yellow face and a solid color on the rump and under the tail, it's a male. If it has a dull face and stripes/bars on the rump and under-tail, it's a female.

Lutinos are harder to sex by appearance. Face color doesn't mean much, although males tend to have brighter cheek spots than females. Males will still have a plain under-tail while females have stripes/bars, but females' tails will sometimes look plain to us because there isn't enough color contrast for our eyes to see the stripes.


----------



## trail_rider (Jan 14, 2009)

well the grey i dont think is a normal grey. I will find my picture of the two.


----------



## trail_rider (Jan 14, 2009)

http://talkcockatiels.com/photoplog/index.php?n=939

http://talkcockatiels.com/photoplog/index.php?n=940

http://talkcockatiels.com/photoplog/index.php?n=941


----------



## atvchick95 (Sep 17, 2007)

the display of wings at the nest box 

are you meaning the bird is leaning down way far wings spread out really far?

if so both males and females do that -it's a Territory thing 


Looks similar to this The bird in the center (in this pic they're getting a shower but its the same wing/leaning they show something belongs to them )










mine have also done it right when they come out of the nest box and they're the only bird in it - So i think its also a way of stretching 





this is what a grey male looks like (of age) - also a Pearl male of age will looks like this as well (splits will NOT change the head color )


----------



## trail_rider (Jan 14, 2009)

yes that is the type of wing display i am talking about. they both do it, but the lutino seems to do it more often.


----------



## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

Your gray looks like a male. If you say they had babies before then I guess that would make the Lutino a hen!!!


----------



## trail_rider (Jan 14, 2009)

since they are in a molt right now i check out one of the lutinos tail feathers and it has barring on it, which would make her a female right?


----------



## trail_rider (Jan 14, 2009)

if the lutino is a female, is her behavior normal? banging her beak on the nestbox door, and doing alot of wing displaying? they both display thier wings, but she does it more.


----------



## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

Yes barring would make the Lutino a hen however since she is a Pied there may not be any barring at all. Most often in fact the pied gene disrupts the coloring that would tell you if she is a male or a female. Didn't you say they had babies before? That gray (it really looks like a normal grey) is definitely a male! There is no other mutation that would look like a male and be a female. So if that's the case you have a 100% chance that that Lutino is female. However...you said SHE was beak banging??? it she just chewing the nest box hole or is she actually making a sound like someone knocking on a door. If so that IS unusual for a hen.


----------



## trail_rider (Jan 14, 2009)

it is definately beak banging. as soon as i heard it i looked to see who was doing it and way suprised to see that it was her.


----------



## atvchick95 (Sep 17, 2007)

is it like what mine is doing here in this video? he is fast about it once is right at the start , But "beak Banging" like this is a male thing none of my females have ever done it - breeding or not - 


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7133401962906806638&hl=en


----------



## Birdie21 (May 24, 2008)

From my recent experience with my Lutino I thought was a male  ...whoever lays the egg is the female. That's the proof of the pudding. And me and a witness heard her talk when I got her. She said "pretty bird" in the clearest voice.


----------



## atvchick95 (Sep 17, 2007)

Birdie21 said:


> From my recent experience with my Lutino I thought was a male  ...whoever lays the egg is the female. That's the proof of the pudding. And me and a witness heard her talk when I got her. She said "pretty bird" in the clearest voice.



was she the only bird where she lived before you got her?

I noticed alot of the females who do talk are the only birds in the house 


Also yes egg laying is another 100% way to know, but it also can take a very long time before a hen lays, and some Never do.


----------

