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Papug
Experienced flier
Joined: 16 May 2005
Posts: 1293
Location: Canada |
| He or... she? |
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Hi
I adopted Papug 6 months ago and he is about 8 to 12 months old now. I was told that he is LIKELY a male because of the very bright orange patches on his cheeks. Nobody was sure a 100% though... He is a lutino and apparently its even harder to tell.
Well, I decided to do some research on my own and now I have my doubts about him being a male...  He has yellow stripes on his tail feathers... and also a few yellow "freckles" on his long wing feathers.
Does it make him "a she" then? |
Thursday May 19, 2005 5:44 pm |
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Fluffy Sue
Joined: 13 Jan 2005
Posts: 10073
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| Re: He or... she? |
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Wow, I really have no clue? Perhaps Greg, he breeds cockatiels. I guess he knows the answer! |
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Thursday May 19, 2005 6:14 pm |
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Cathy
Kamikaze pilot
Joined: 02 Apr 2005
Posts: 6673
Location: Omaha, NE USA |
I've has my cockatiel Poppy for 12 yrs & still don't know if he's really a he! Hopefully Greg can shed some light! |
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Thursday May 19, 2005 10:10 pm |
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Greg Sujecki
Experienced flier
Joined: 21 Mar 2005
Posts: 1650
Location: Australia,Melbourne |
Hi,Lutino cockateils are very hard to tell,though
males
have a redder cheek than the female, although in Lutino that can be hard being a yellow parrot.I find with my lutino's after about 4 months old,if they are male the will sing to themselves trying to make song, nodding his head quickly while singing as for a female they are almost quiet except for that "cheep cheep" sound they all make.Observating this might take time or a bit of luck but that is my way of telling.There is another way, an that is to take your bird to an Avian Vet to have it DNA tested(here is Australia costs about $50)Hope this helps  |
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Thursday May 19, 2005 11:54 pm |
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Greg Sujecki
Experienced flier
Joined: 21 Mar 2005
Posts: 1650
Location: Australia,Melbourne |
Oh,also l'll send some pics of the tail of a male an female cockateil to Sue an you then can see the difference in them,l'll explain in the brag forum so you can understand,unfortunately Lutino's have the same tail patterns so again it's difficult to tell unless your Lutino has another cross breed in its breed  |
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Friday May 20, 2005 12:05 am |
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Cathy
Kamikaze pilot
Joined: 02 Apr 2005
Posts: 6673
Location: Omaha, NE USA |
Yeah, see I guess I've just never had any reason to have mine DNA tested. |
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Friday May 20, 2005 2:05 am |
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Papug
Experienced flier
Joined: 16 May 2005
Posts: 1293
Location: Canada |
Papug has a little mirror he adores and sometimes will "sing" or "talk" to it, especially in the mornings. He usually makes his "comb" flat and half-closes his eyes when he does it. Other than these occasional mirror adorations he is quiet. He will rarely "tweet" or "call" when he wants attention.
He never swings from side to side but sometimes he swings upside down on a bar (like a bat).
I guess it doesn't help to solve the enigma of his (her?) gender |
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Friday May 20, 2005 2:47 am |
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Cathy
Kamikaze pilot
Joined: 02 Apr 2005
Posts: 6673
Location: Omaha, NE USA |
Yes, Poppy does frequently sing to his mirror too! Well, he whistles
Row, Row, Row Your Boat
, & he waves at himself & chatters, so sounds like he may in fact be a male? He doesn't do the head nodding thing, but he does do a particular movement with his head that I can't describe, it's not quick, but it's repititious when he does it.
Thanks for the input Greg, I'll be watching for those photos |
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Friday May 20, 2005 3:14 am |
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Greg Sujecki
Experienced flier
Joined: 21 Mar 2005
Posts: 1650
Location: Australia,Melbourne |
Forgot to mention the fact the sound of a Cockateil male singing his gene song, not that of a human mimic sound,for the mimic words we teach them male or female they copy to keep us happy an give them attention,as well as something to do |
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Friday May 20, 2005 9:27 am |
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Cathy
Kamikaze pilot
Joined: 02 Apr 2005
Posts: 6673
Location: Omaha, NE USA |
Oh! So Poppy whistling to his mirror doesn't really mean anything as far as whether he's male or female |
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Friday May 20, 2005 12:50 pm |
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Greg Sujecki
Experienced flier
Joined: 21 Mar 2005
Posts: 1650
Location: Australia,Melbourne |
The sound that a male Cockateil makes ,without being taut from us humans So if Poppy whistles a tune in the mirror like he's making a thrii"ipe thrii"ipe thrii"ipe sound and his wings slightly open and eyes pupils shrink bowing his head up and down in quick and slow motions randomly would be him trying to court a female.. He will also sit on a branch/perch on his own and mumble to himself practicing were the female hasn't a need to unless she is trying to talk what we teach  next time i'm out with my camera like tomorrow l'll keep the sound handy incase one of my males start to sing,no promise's for breeding season is over now but as soon as l get one l'll let you all know |
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Friday May 20, 2005 1:08 pm |
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Papug
Experienced flier
Joined: 16 May 2005
Posts: 1293
Location: Canada |
Thanks Greg
Papug mumbles to himself sometimes but he doesn't do it very often and he definitely does not "dance" or do head swings. If he was a male would he do all that stuff even though there is no female around?
Cathy, I went to see your homepage and have to say that your parrots are very pretty, and it really doesn't matter if they are males or females |
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Friday May 20, 2005 1:49 pm |
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Cathy
Kamikaze pilot
Joined: 02 Apr 2005
Posts: 6673
Location: Omaha, NE USA |
Well thank-you very much !
You know, someday soon I'm going to do a little write up about my 'tiel on my homepage too & include more photos of him.
No, it really doesn't matter to me if they are male or female, as I will never breed them, so unless there are health issues involved, I'm fine calling them both "he"!  |
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Friday May 20, 2005 4:28 pm |
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Greg Sujecki
Experienced flier
Joined: 21 Mar 2005
Posts: 1650
Location: Australia,Melbourne |
| re:overdue photo's |
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 sorry l'm a little late but here are some pics of a females tail then the males which has no pattern
In this last pic you will see no pattern just colour.Also it doesn't mean that your tiel has to have all those patterns just some resembulance and most young have the female pattern even though they can be male and as they mature into adults,the pattern will disappear(for a male) :)Lutino's don't have those patterns for they are just yellow dominant |
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Saturday June 11, 2005 8:37 am |
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Fluffy Sue
Joined: 13 Jan 2005
Posts: 10073
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Oh wow! I never looked at those tiels like this.. Those tails are remarkably beautiful! |
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Saturday June 11, 2005 11:31 am |
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