# when will he start to chirp



## twig braker (Feb 17, 2009)

so petrie seems very comfortable he lets me scritch him a lot (more like he tells me to scratch him) he runs to me when i put him on the ground, and he wants to eat everything i eat. he just seems very comfortable, but he hardly ever chirps and i was wondering if maybe he is just quite or how long does it take for them to start to sing/chirp.


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## xxxSpikexxx (Jul 30, 2007)

Some take longer than others, how long have you had Petrie for? It sounds like he is getting use to you and bonding with you which is great  Iam sure he will start to make more noise when he gets more comfortable with his surrondings. Mabey Petrie could be a girl?


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## twig braker (Feb 17, 2009)

i geuss i have only had him for a month or so, i just spend so much time with him seems like longer hopefully he will start to be more vocal soon.

i dont think he is a girl, but i have never been positive he is a boy. he is a lutino, he has pretty dark orange cheeks, i have not seen any barring on his tail feathers, he has spots on the outside of his wings but not the inside and i read they are suppose to have them on the inside if they are a girl, which is what i herd is how you tell the sex, and he used to be pretty nippy which is suppose to be a boy trait. then again he is pretty cuddly. dang im stumped now. 

any other ways to tell for sure. is there any special way to tell for lutinos.

would pictures help, im not sure how to post them but i will figure it out if you would like to see some


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## atvchick95 (Sep 17, 2007)

with lutino's it is hard (very hard in some cases) to see the barring because it's the same coloring as they are (some are a little brighter) but you'd need a really bright light 

with him being the only boy, he may not be noisy - or it may take him longer 

have you playing any Cockatiel sounds or birds in general sounds, like from watching video's on you tube or on here?

When ever I go to watch a video (depending on the time of night it is) I have to put head phones on, because my love birds will chirp back to the birds on the computer lol


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## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

It's hard to sex Lutinos, you can't sex them by the orange cheek patches either, I have a Lutino who also has the dark orange cheeks.

Another way is to DNA sex, unless someone else can tell you another way to be able to sex your Lutino. But if h/she is really quiet and you've had him/her for a month now, maybe you've got a female after all.


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## twig braker (Feb 17, 2009)

well i played some youtube videos and he chirped a bit but still doesnt mean he is a guy. i read somwhere that girls chirp different than boys but i couldnt find it, so coulod somone explain to me the difference in chirps if there is one

also is there any common female or male behavior to look out for


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## Danielle (Aug 15, 2008)

Yes! They absolutely sound different. I'll try and get some footage of Harley making noise and the girls making noise. I'm not sure if it's the same for everyone else, but all of my girls sound exactly the same. They have this very sweet, bell-like chirp and they basically just make the one noise. Harley makes a much wider variety of noises and makes them more often.

I've tried to find a good example of girl noises on Youtube before and haven't been able to.

As for behaviour, boys do things like bang their beak on items to show they belong to him, make heartwings (google for pictures!), sing, whistle and sometimes talk and mimic. Harley does none of that, mind you. He just sounds different to the girls. How old is your tiel? Harley's 8 months and he still acts like a baby.

Girls don't tend to do the beak banging or heartwings, although I have heard of them occasionally doing that. They tend to have a very limited range of sounds compared to males and rarely sing or mimic. They flirt by making repeated soft chirps, and by wriggling their butts in the air.

None of my girls do those things either, so I don't have first hand experience with behaviour other than seeing it in videos and reading about it. I can vouch that girls and boys don't sound the same, though.


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## atvchick95 (Sep 17, 2007)

I can show you boy sounds , but it's got budgies in the back ground lol 

here is one of my boys (the gurgling /screeching is the budgies)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6286333769786668780

here's another boy (again gurgling, high pitch chirping/screeching are budgies Human talking would be the kids lol )
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7133401962906806638

here's another of the same bird as above 
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2640151643539973338

I have none of females as mine don't make any noise, unless we handle them then its screaming , or if their buddy flys out of sight then again its screaming (their contact call)


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## Aly (Jul 30, 2007)

Can you post a few full body pics..I'm pretty good at guessing although like the others said, behavior and DNA is the only sure way.


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## twig braker (Feb 17, 2009)

sorry i havent posted any pics yet ill try to get them up as soon as i can, but at the moment i dont even know where that camera is 

but another question. i dont really know what heart wings are? i looked them up on google and there were like three different things. maybe im just stupid but i just couldnt find anything. also when are heartwings used?

also one more question. i read that tail wagging is a female behavior, but is tail wagging when they shake there tail feathers really fast, cause i though that was just one of the things they did after preening, or is tail wagging when they do something different?


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## Danielle (Aug 15, 2008)

http://www.biseinen.com/shango/fun/pics/heartwings.jpg

There's a picture! It's used when they're flirting, basically.

The tail wagging is basically when they lean forward and stick their butts up in the air. It's not the same as preening or shaking out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFfaYua1MI8

That's a good video showing the chirping females exhibit when they're in breeding mode.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m96n73oKo08&feature=related

This shows the male heartwinging and hopping.


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## twig braker (Feb 17, 2009)

thank you a lot that answered my questions, 
so he doesnt do heart wings or shake his butt so im stumped i think i just have to wait a little to be sure, let him get more comfortable, but i will still try to get some pictures up in the meantime


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## Danielle (Aug 15, 2008)

It can be pretty frustrating, I know. Quinn doesn't show any male or female behaviours. S/he sounds like the other girls but also has a slightly larger range of noises, but is much quieter than Harley and doesn't sound the same at all.

They sure like to keep us guessing.


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## twig braker (Feb 17, 2009)

so i played some more youtube videos and he started to chirp a lot and he would flap his wings alot when he chirped. does that mean anything?

i think he was making heart wings but it could just be because he was flapping his wings so they were already in that position a little. any input on this would be great thank you


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## xxxSpikexxx (Jul 30, 2007)

Sounds like s/he was excited to hear some other tiels


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## Birdie21 (May 24, 2008)

I also have a Lutino I thought was a male. I heard it say "pretty bird" in the car when I brought Piper home. I kept playing the video's in YouTube. Well, I finally got my answer when SHE laid an egg. I had been doing the "wolf whistle" to her and she chirps it, doesn't whistle it. When I am out of the room that is how she calls me. I reply with the whistle. She is moulting right now and the other day I found a feather that had the bars on it.


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## twig braker (Feb 17, 2009)

so as i am looking up more things on females and males i read everywhere that males are suggested but is that just because of the whistleing ability or is there a difference in training, tricks or inteligence as well. i wouldnt think there is but i am just seeing other people's input

another question, do girls make heart wings while they chirp? cause im pretty sure petrie is making heart wings when he chirps but it could also be that he is flapping his wings


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## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

Most people prefer males because they are much more likely to whistle and talk. Also a hen can become a chronic egg layer resulting in egg binding and ultimately her death.


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## Danielle (Aug 15, 2008)

Boys tend to be the easiest with health and they do sometimes whistle and talk. However, I have 1 boy and 3 (soon to be 4) girls and personality wise they're all delightful and different. The boy is handreared so he's tamer than the girls, but the girls are just as silly and fun to own.


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## Birdlette (Feb 25, 2009)

*heartwings*

Heartwings is where the male birds hold out their wings at the shoulders while keeping the tips of their wings by their sides thus forming a heart shape if viewed from above. It is a part of the courting display I gather. My oldest male who is very bonded to me will hold out his shoulders and scuttle about the bottom of the cage when he sees me. He will usually whistle his wolf whistle call too, which is his ususal greeting when I come in the room.
The tail wagging thing that the females do is different from the brisk shake that is given after preening, it is slower and more regular. The head is held down and a rolling sort of cooing call is given... a very definite invitation!!! Its all about sex and reproduction of the species!


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## twig braker (Feb 17, 2009)

ok so another question (sorry if im getting annoying)
is beak banging a commen thing, like do they do it a lot, do all males do it?


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## Cassie (Jan 7, 2009)

I'm pretty sure it's just boy behaviour. I have two young boys and they bang their beaks on everything... including me.  Be careful what you wish for in the chirping department too. I couldn't wait for mine to start singing and now they've discovered they can do it, it is non-stop. I've been having about eight hours a day of "Waltzing Matilda" and "Pop goes the Weasle".


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## Danielle (Aug 15, 2008)

Harley doesn't beak bang, so if yours doesn't don't worry. Every tiel is different.


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## twig braker (Feb 17, 2009)

ok thank you. dont worry cassie i will be happy either way. i love him/her now i just would like to know


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## Coreyrox (Mar 9, 2009)

You can get a dna test at avian bio tech for 20 dollars. They send you a free test kit.


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## twig braker (Feb 17, 2009)

ok here are some pictures i finally got up. not that great of pictures ill try to get some better ones up if you would like? 

input on the gender would be great thankyou


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## xxxSpikexxx (Jul 30, 2007)

I would guess female  I say go for the dna test, I know I could not wait either


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## twig braker (Feb 17, 2009)

what makes you say female. just wondering


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## xxxSpikexxx (Jul 30, 2007)

Her being a lutino and I think I seen some pearls aswell. Which I think will be lost if she turns out to be a he. Iam really bad at genetics :blush: but I thought that lutino females were a bit more common then males  And I just have a feeling that you have a little girl


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## twig braker (Feb 17, 2009)

well whenever i look on youtube most of the whistlers seem to be lutinos so i would think male lutinos are more common, but maybe they are the same. but i just dont know because he doesnt show any male or female behavior, except for his quitness. but he has been a little bit more chirpy lately, and he chirps when i play tiel videos, and he chirped a lot when i took him outside


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## xxxSpikexxx (Jul 30, 2007)

I do know that there are male lutinos aswell. I seen one at a store and he was doing heart wings at me  the name big bird popped into my head but no I did not slip and get him  Iam sure you will find out what your baby is eventually


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## twig braker (Feb 17, 2009)

ya i will but sense i have already named it a boy name and then i found out the possibility it could be a girl just makes me want to find out


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## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

twig braker said:


> well whenever i look on youtube most of the whistlers seem to be lutinos so i would think male lutinos are more common, but maybe they are the same. but i just dont know because he doesnt show any male or female behavior, except for his quitness. but he has been a little bit more chirpy lately, and he chirps when i play tiel videos, and he chirped a lot when i took him outside


I've got a female Lutino, I know mine's a female because I know what her parents are but if she's not showing any male behviour, beak banging, heart wings, wolf whistling etc, then it's most likely a female. If she's only "chirping" then definitely a female, my female only chirps every so often too, like yours, especially when outside or playing other Cockatiel videos on YouTube.


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## twig braker (Feb 17, 2009)

ok but it could still be not chirping much, and showing normal male behavior because i havent had it for very long, but i think it does have a good chance of being a girl, but not positive yet.


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## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

How long have you had her for now? 

Yes, once they're in a new environment, and no clue whatsoever where they are, they will be quiet until everything fits together and they go back to their old selves, which is then where you'll find out if you've got a male or female, some take longer then others to start going back to their old selves. Hopefully yours won't take long so you can find out, lol. But if it turns out to be a male, enjoy the quietness while you can!


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## Danielle (Aug 15, 2008)

Like I said, apart from being loud, Harley shows no male or female behaviours. In the first hour of having him, Flash wolf whistled, so go figure!

You may have to wait until a moult?


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## twig braker (Feb 17, 2009)

i read that girls i generally pretty calm and not to active, is that true?
because petrie is not a very calm bird


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## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

Females are very docile and sometimes even timid and in my experience prove to be more cautious than the males.


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## Danielle (Aug 15, 2008)

Mozart's really quite bold and curious, she's the biggest explorer out of all my tiels.

Both my boys, Harley and Flash are more trusting than any of the girls. To be fair, of the four girls only one is hand reared (both the boys were hand reared) and I've only had her for 24 hours, but I've had Flash for the same amount of time and he and he's more trusting of me than the hand reared girl, Ivy.

But like I said, Mozart is by far my boldest tiel. I don't think either sex makes a better pet, particuarlly if they're handreared and trust people to start with. Every tiel has their own personality and is entertaining in their own way. Some are dignified, some are silly, some are indignant, some are love-y, some are independant. 

Some of the pros and cons, though:

Pros for boys:

You don't have to worry about eggs
They can potentially whistle songs, mimic and talk
They're bright-coloured and have amusing boy behaviours

Cons for boys:

They can potentially whistle songs, mimic and talk... CONSTANTLY
They can get posessive and aggressive
They can have pretty intense hormonal swings during puberty

Pros for girls:

They're quieter
They don't change their markings
They tend to have less of a personality change during moulting

Cons for girls:

They can lay eggs and have the health problems associated with that
They might be a little 'dull' for some people, with their lack of entertaining behaviours
They can be hard to get out of breeding mode once they're determined

Those are just off the top of my head, though, I'm no expert. I love my boys and girls equally, they both have unique and interesting personalities. I'm not saying girls don't get posessive and aggressive, because they can and do - I more meant as a result of boy hormones.


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## twig braker (Feb 17, 2009)

i know im not hoping for any certain sex i will be happy either way, i love his attitude and personality now its not going to change if i find out he is a girl. but according to generalities i think he is a boy because i have checked his tail for bars probably 30 times under good light (holding him right above a lamp or light) so unless the bars are literally impossible to see he doesnt have any. and he is a little explorer he wonders everywhere, and he is a bit nippy at times (hardly with me more other people). he probably isnt very loud yet because he is still new i was just a little to eager.

but i still understand there is a chance he is a girl, it could just be a girl with a little more attitiude and spunk. just generalities point to male more i think except for his quitness. i think i just need to wait a little bit to tell but now i know what to look for.

thank you everyone


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