Male or Female? *Pics*

[racing_gurl07]

Here are more pics of spike, she loves the camera, as you can see :) Shes molting now, and getting more yellow on her head, so i think she is going to be a he!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e267/racing_gurl07/before.jpg
when we first got her, not much yellow
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e267/racing_gurl07/spikeredone33.jpg
Today-More and more yellow
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e267/racing_gurl07/spike.jpg
me feeding her

[crazy_caique]

Spike i agree with you i think might be a male.Does he do the wolf whistle?most females don't do that

[racing_gurl07]

yes spike does the wolf call, she/he is really loud, always talking

[My Peanuts]

There is no way to tell without a DNA test, which is about $30-35 around here. I've had 3 very loud females in the 4 females I have owned over the years. His/her orange patches are light colored which means female, but it's not for sure. Out of those 4 females 2 had dark patches and were loud. I really thought they were males, but DNA tests confirmed they were female. Only laying eggs and DNA tests are for sure.

[racing_gurl07]

how old are they when they first molt?

[racing_gurl07]

as you can see, she will eat out of my hand through the cage,she will try and stick her head through the bars to get the treat (but of course she cant fit) but when i stick my hand in the cage with a treat she doesnt take it. she'll bite at me. why is that so diffrent?

[Jessika]

We thought Soleil was male... until she laid an egg! And then they got a male a year or two later, and there is a BIG difference looks-wise.

Soleil (female):
http://www.dont-stay.com/off/soleil.jpg

Sunny (male):
http://www.dont-stay.com/off/sunny.jpg

I didn't think there was but there is a noticable difference when comparing the two. And Sunny is under a year old, so he's still fairly young. Soleil, on the other hand, is about two years old.

EDIT: And yes, Sunny is missing feathers from his wings from his previous owners. They had him in with another Cockatiel and it beat him up to the point where he's permanently lost feathers on his wings.

[racing_gurl07]

spike is not bright yellow, just getting more yellow the more she molts.

[Jessika]

That's normal though; both males and females have yellow on their heads. At least from the pictures above and comparing them to the two I posted :P

And if she's not bright yellow, then I would assume she is still female and not male

How old is s/he?

[racing_gurl07]

im not sure how old she is, she is just starting to molt for the first time. How old are they when they first molt?

[Jessika]

This page should help you out! :)

http://www.cockatiels.org/articles/care/molting.html

[racing_gurl07]

i read that when the birds are molting they are crabby, and thats how spike is, but when she is done molting, how do you get her used to your hands/ we always put our hands in the cage, we have been doing that for 4 months now, but doesnt seem to be getting anywhere. you can put your finger through the bars and she will nibble on them, but not inside the cage, she doesnt like that one bit :confused:

[tikeyas_mom]

i think it looks like a female.. i suppose a DNA test would be the only was to get a %100 answer.

[crazy_caique]

There is no way to tell without a DNA test, which is about $30-35 around here. I've had 3 very loud females in the 4 females I have owned over the years. His/her orange patches are light colored which means female, but it's not for sure. Out of those 4 females 2 had dark patches and were loud. I really thought they were males, but DNA tests confirmed they were female. Only laying eggs and DNA tests are for sure.


your females did the wolf call?I have never heard of a female doing that?

[racing_gurl07]

yeah she does the wolf call..ALL the time! so im not sure what she/he is :confused:

[Giselle]

your females did the wolf call?I have never heard of a female doing that?
Both females and males can do the wolf whistle as well as imitate human speech. It's just a common misconception that female birds are less talented in the speech department. On the contrary, females are calmer and, in some cases, more willing to please and easier to train than their bouncy male counterparts.

Like it was mentioned above, eggs and sex-testing (via endoscopy or DNA testing with a feather/blood sample) are the only 100% ways to tell a bird's gender. Since cockatiels have various mutations, you can never really tell a bird's gender through visual characteristics. Assuming most pet cockatiels sold in pet stores are Normal Grays, however, it looks like Spike is most likely a female. Although she is gaining a lot of brighter yellow, her color points predominantly to females.

Does Spike like any yogurt treats or plain millet seed? You can sprinkle a few teaspoons of millet seed in your hand before feeding breakfast. She should be hungry enough by now to accept food directly from your hand. Just try to be patient. Things will turn around soon enough. Have you bought Guide to a Well-Behaved Parrot by Mattie Sue Athan? It really is an excellent guide :)

[racing_gurl07]

i havent tried yogurt, she loves celery leaves, shes unsure about millet yet. only tried that once. i will again though

[crazy_caique]

does spike have a striped under tail or soild undertail?
my female does say one word peekaboo but doesn't do the wolf call

[racing_gurl07]

she has black and yellow strips on her tail

[Giselle]

Yup, it's a female :) Don't try straight yogurt! I was talking about the yogurt biscuit-type treats available at pet stores. Birds are lactose intolerant, I believe, so it wouldn't be too wise to feed them straight yogurt. Celery leaves are a greyt treat! You place a couple celery leaves on your open palm to entice Spike to eat it from your hand. It'll take a few days for her to acclimate to your hand, so it's perfectly normal if she doesn't eat from your hands the first time. Any progress is good progress!

[Crazy-Cat-Lover]

I got this from here (http://www.bluequaker.com/Art-015.htm).

Sexing

Determining the sex of the young cockatiel is not always easy; it often consists of an educated guess. The males and females of the normal greys and cinnamons are identical when young. They show little or no yellow on the face and both have large spots under the wings on the long flight feathers. As the males approach maturity and molt into adult plumage, usually at six months to a year, they lose their under wing spots and the facial area becomes mostly yellow. The orange cheek patch stands out clearly against the light colored head. The females continue to look like the young birds after molting. They retain their under wing spots and have very little yellow in the facial areas. They have the orange cheek patch but against the darkness of the surrounding plumage it is less obvious.

The pearl males lose their pearling with the first molt but the females retain their pearling for life. As immature birds they are identical. The pieds are the most difficult to sex. Both males and females retain the same under wing markings in maturity.

In all cockatiels the males are more vocal. When the mating song is heard, you can be sure that your bird is a cock.

Palpation of the space between the pelvic bones is another method of determining the sex of the bird. The bones of the male are pointed and close together while the females' are dull, rounded, and further apart. The females are usually wider across the chest and the males longer and slimmer. The male often has a larger and fuller crest. None of these are completely reliable indicators but serve as contributors to that educated guess.

For the past year I have been trying a simple method of determining sex which so far has proved surprisingly accurate. In the greys, cinnamons, and pearls the under wing spots or bars extend only half way up the extended wing on the males. In the hens, these extend up the full length of the wing to the body of the bird.

Hope this helps! :)