# age and sex for a pearl?



## pure heart (Jan 8, 2014)

i bought my first two cockatiels a lutino and a pearl, the man told me they are young (5 months now) and they are a male & female.he told me the lutino is female and the pearl is the male ! after a weak the lutino started to sing beautifully (till now almost non stop ) ,so i said he must be a male ..the man was wrong.few days ago i saw the pearl sings but for a short time then keeps silent .i have them for a month and the pearl did it only twice for few seconds then stops quickly .do i have two males? or i shouldn't count on the short sings? and another question ..i have a strong feeling that the pearl is older than the lutino from the look of the feathers and the big red cheek,what you think??


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## moonchild (Jul 29, 2012)

The pearl is also pied, which means that the cheek patches will always look like that from the time the bird first gets its feathers; it's not an indication of age. At five months old, it's probably too early to sex them visually. I'd recommend a DNA test for the pearl. Or, if you can find out the mutations of the parents, that might help. If mom was not a pearl, the baby has to be female. If she was, then the baby could be either sex.

It is pretty rare for females to sing, so I think you probably have two males. But that's not a 100% sure way to tell.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

If a female the bird would not lose any of the pearl pattern. If a male these are some things to look for. NOTE: When pearl pied, male it may take years to molt out the pearling on the back and tail barring, but the male will molt out the wing spots with the first molt.


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