how can I tell if my cockatiel is a he or a she?

Answer 1

You need to take it to the vet and have it's blood tested. With parakeets, one can sometimes tell by the color of the bird's cere...the part above the beak where the nostrils are. I think a light colored or pinkish colored one is female and the more purplish darker ones are male. I may have the colors for the sex's wrong. It's been a long time since I researched that.

Answer 2

I have had multiple cockatiels within the past 30 years and I can tell you what I know. Do NOT do what zraigy7 has told you. This can hurt your bird very badly and could break bones if not preformed by a licensed avian vet. If your cockatiel is a mix (Lutino and grey, etc.) then it is very hard to tell by coloring. On all cockatiels males usually have brighter cheeks and females have more patterns on their wings and tails. Females CAN and DO whistle/sing, albeit less than some males. The only sure way to tell the difference is to get a DNA test done by an avian vet.

Answer 3

Only male cockatiels whistle, which usually starts at about 5 months of age. If the cockatiel has molted into adult feathers, look on the underside of its wing-spread its wing out--- If you can see dots of color, usually yellow dots on the lutino/albino, white dots of color on a grey cockatiel.
Also look at the coloring of the tail feathers from the front, females have horizontal bars. The males lose these bars at the first molt and have solid color tail feathers. The males also get more yellow on their face--a lot more yellow and the cheeks are brighter orange.
Breeders sometimes pull out a couple of wing feathers or tail feathers on babies- when the feathers grow back in they can tell the sex at a younger age.

Answer 4

How old is the bird?
If it is still a juvenile, it will be very difficult to tell as all jeuveniles have female coloring. After the first molt, males will have male coloring and females will look the same. Only Lutino cockatiels (all white with yellow faces) are nearly impossible to sex visually. Other color variations can be differentiated if it is old enough.

If you send me a photo of your bird , I may be able to identify it for you.

Also this site has some helpful information:
http://suzzie.tripod.com/sexing.htm

Answer 5

a cocktail is a drink. dont take a drink 2 the vets. they will think u r a little weird, so dont listen 2 them. they dont know what there talking about. this is the best answer yet and i need more points cause i need 2 ask another question cause my dad just died and i need some advice really bad cause im really sad and i have only 1 friend in the world. well i cant talk anymore cause im starting 2 cry... ;~(

Answer 6

Check the coloring on the underside of the tail feathers. Females are barred (have horizontal bars.) The males lose these bars at the first molt and the underside of their tail feathers are solid color. The males will sometimes be more colorful on the face and cheeks and they tend to be a bit noisier (whistling, talking to you, etc.)

Answer 7

If you go and look it up on the internet you can find a place where u pay a small fee. all ya gotta do it pull off a chest hair and send it in and a couple of weeks later they will mail you back the news. this is what i did with my sun conure. It was a girl.

Answer 8

zraigy7 is correct.

You can identify most types of birds using this method. It's not that easy (because of the many mutations) to identify cockatiels by visusal inspection.

Studly
Certified Avian Specialist
www.borrowed-rainbow.com

Answer 9

some professional bird keepers have ways to tell, but if you really want to know just take it to the vet; they do a test and you get back a certificate telling you if it's a boy or a girl.

Answer 10

If it has dots on the tail it is a girl.
The tail and the feet and face are grey its a male?

Sources below: