# sexing my cockatiel



## norfendz (Oct 11, 2010)

hey. not sure if this is the right place to post this but anyone got any advice on how to sex my cockatiel? i keep referring to it as a male cos my friend had 2 cockatiels and both of hers were males so i was used to calling them lad etc lol. anyways id like to know the sex so any help plz? thanks


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## mpayjr (Aug 16, 2010)

Ok. You can sex it through many ways. 

1) Is the tiel's face yellow or grey? If so the tiel has already gone through its 1st molt (I like to be sure by knowing the tiel is at least one). If not, and it is about a few months old to a year, then you cannot use this technique. This is for normal grey or spliit to pied tiels. If the tiel is a whiteface, it is the same technique. Only, if the face is completely white, it is a male, if it is grey it is a female. Reminder: this doesn't work for lutinos.

2)Bring he/she to the vet to be sexed. This is always always 100% correct. It's the best way, but it will cost you a little bit.

3)Ask the breeder you got him from, usually if they are experienced breeders, they can tell what sex they are just by looking at them.

4)Check on the tail feathers and underneith the wings. If the tail feathers have yellow lines going across them, then it is a female. However, this will disappear on males if they have already gone through their 1st molting. If there are small spots underneith the wings, then it is a female. 

5)Their are also many ways a female and male will act that can help. Remember this isn't always a true for every bird. 
-Females will stick their vents in the air whenever a male is around. 
-Males actually whistle tunes, females squawk alot
-Females will lay the eggs 
-Males will be a bit more territorial than females will
-There are more, and others will help you with that too

Good Luck!


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

Have you got any pics of your tiel and how old is she/he, also what mutation is he/she


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## busylittlebee (Sep 15, 2010)

You can do DNA sexing: http://www.avianbiotech.com/

Although, you have to pluck out a few feathers to do this and I've been worried about doing that! Although, I asked for a kit and they sent it to me quick, I just don't know if I want to pluck out feathers or not though as I'm worried it will hurt.


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## Cheryl (Dec 27, 2008)

What is the mutation and age? Does it exhibit any male behaviors (whistling, heart wings, beak banging)? 
Pictures would be VERY helpful along with that information.

Yellow/white face ONLY works for "normals", i.e. normal greys, normal cinnamons, normal whitefaces, etc. 
Sexing a pearl is easy once it has reached a certain age. Males molt their pearls out (or at least most of them) by their first and second molts. So if your bird has its pearls above a year I would have to say its a female.
Like mentioned above, once you have pied or lutino thrown into the mix, it becomes very difficult to sex. I would recommend going by behavior or DNA testing.


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## norfendz (Oct 11, 2010)

im not sure how old it is the only thing i know is it isnt a year old i bought it from my local pet shop, ill get some pics up soon as i can possibly be tomoro and maybe someone can tell me the mutation. so looks like i cnt sex it till a year old then?


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

You can look in the cockatiel gallery if you cant get your pics up and see if your tiel looks like any of them


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