2007-01-20 09:48:08 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Birds
It is harder to tell until after they have had their first molt. But, what really shows before the molt is that male cockatiels are much more vocal. they will sing a lot and maybe talk. females are much more quiet and usually do not make much noise at all. After their first molt, Male cockatiels are generally brighter in color. Their heads are a brighter yellow and their cheek patches a brighter orange. Females are duller in color, but they have barring (stripes) on the underside of their tail. If you're going to breed, make sure you do plenty of research before hand. are you ready for what might happen? what if one of the babies is splay-legged? will you be able to afford the over $200 vet bill if your female becomes egg bound? what happens if you cannot sell all of the chicks? do you have enough room for them in your house? please make sure you consider all of the options first. Hope this helps and good luck!
2007-01-20 10:28:05 · answer #1 · answered by p_snickerdoodle@sbcglobal.net 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I have a female cockatiel, and the only way to be 100% sure about the sexes is to have a vet do a blood test. I know eveyone always says that you can tell by color, but this is just an educated guess. My tiel had all the markintgs of a male is is quite vocal, but she is definately a female.
2007-01-20 11:58:36 · answer #2 · answered by Ldy Bug 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most of the comments about colors are accurate, but for me I was able to know by their traits and behavior. Males are generally more vocal but the only way to know for sure (of course unless a pair has bred) is with a dna test.
But I'm concerned about your desire to breed them. If you do not know enough about cockatiels to know the differences between the sexes then you are not ready yet.
You don't say anything about whether you already have birds but if you do, just watch them. See how they interact with each other. If you do have a male and female just wait until the hormones kick in...and it may soon become obvious.
2007-01-20 12:16:24 · answer #3 · answered by pink.vixie 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First of all the males will sing all the time, the females will only tweet. Also a male will almost always have NO GREY on his face and a female will always have grey on her face unless she is a lutino. A female will also always have stripes or bars on her tail where the males will always have solid colored tail feathers or sometimes some speckled tail feather mixed in with solid colored ones.
Only a DIRTY FACE PIED MALE will be the only males with any kind of grey on their faces.
I have bred cockatiels for 20 yrs now and can tell you by viewing them what sex they are by looking at them.
2007-01-21 05:03:16 · answer #4 · answered by reasonable-sale-lots 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Male birds are brighter to attract a mate, females are duller (think peacock). Male Cockatiels have yellow heads with orange spots. Females usually have grey heads. I have owned a beautiful male for 14 years.
2007-01-20 09:53:35 · answer #5 · answered by Matt W 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
well you dont say what colour bird 1 yellow-cinnomon-reverse pied-will have yellow bar lines running under wings 2 greys-pearls-hen will have yellow bar lines across all tall feathers males in greys will have none .males in pearls will only have bars on out side tail feathers no barring on the to long middle tail feathers I hope this will help you & the other 4 answers to sex cocktails
2007-01-20 10:52:15 · answer #6 · answered by graham c 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can't. It's a 50/50 guess. If there's two, see how they interact. Males often fight a ton. The only way to really know is to have a medical test which is really expensive (probably more expensive for the birds themselves).
2007-01-20 09:53:35 · answer #7 · answered by Shawn 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
you can tell by the color of their cheeks for one.if the orange part is brighter than it is a female,if the orange color is a dark orange than of course it is a male.but for one thing,you cant tell while they are young.for the fact that they have not matured yet in life.wait until about a few months afterwards than look.you should be able to tell by than.
Hekate's witch)O(
2007-01-20 16:27:47 · answer #8 · answered by Hecate's_witch 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi there. I found Cockatiels.com and they do list traits that can distinguish between the sexes of these birds. Have a tweet year.
2007-01-20 11:18:33 · answer #9 · answered by firestarter 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
please don't breed them.
If you do a search for rescued tiels on petfinder or even in google, there are HUNDREDS sitting in rescues right now without homes.
its not good to make a quick buck selling tiels, and thier breeding can and will get out of control
2007-01-20 11:52:42 · answer #10 · answered by lilswanwillow 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋