Gendering and identifying a rescue cockatiel

[swagheichou]

We received this cockatiel almost 6 months ago, and while he is still unhand tame to any one with dark hair, "Drake" is a mystery.
We know he is about 2 years old, however, recently with the molt going on (across nearly the whole house for all the birds) he appears to be losing some of the pearling.

We know he was never handled at his previously, and is getting along well with our female pearl cockatiel. However, their behaviors are different. The pearl (hen) "Levi" sits in a much more crouched way, and not in the way Drake sits, very standing as tall as can be.

 

[4dugnlee]

I can't tell the gender...but I can tell you he is beautiful!!! From my research it seems pied tiels are difficult to tell gender without a DNA test.

 

[Ximichi]

My male cockatiel stands much taller than my female. Have you heard any male behavior (whistling, mimicing, etc)?

 

[swagheichou]

My male cockatiel stands much taller than my female. Have you heard any male behavior (whistling, mimicing, etc)?

Strangely, although he is old enough to talk, we have yet to hear him talk, in fact, when we got him, he did not know how to hiss. He would just bite. He did appear to learn from Levi however, to do so.

 

[riddick07]

Looks like a pearl pied. I'm saying female because the pearling is still visible. I'm not sure if the combination of genes affects the pearling though but it's sex linked so I would say not....though some (few) males do retain some pearling for some reason. Best bet is to DNA if you want a definite answer or wait to see if an egg shows up at some point. Sorry not sure why I put Lutino in there the first time!

 

[SilverSage]

Actually, it is a pearl pied cockatiel, no lutino. The pied makes it impossible to tell gender by the most common way of looking at how clear the face is, but your biggest hint is in the fact that you say he is losing some pearl. I would guess you age estimate is off; can you tell me why you think he is two years old? If you had before and after pics of the molt, that would be extremely helpful. Male pearl cockatiels usually lose their pearling at about a year old. Some retain enough to still look pearled, but the amount I'm seeing on him would be extremely uncharacteristic for a two year old male. Others lose their pearls so completely that they appear normal. At the same time, losing any pearls would be odd for a female. My guess is that you have a male who is closer to one year than two. It should be much more clear when he finishes molting.

As for stance and whistling/talking, those can be indicators, but they are not reliable. I have a female tile who whistles up a storm, and I have had nearly silent males.

It's interesting to me that you say he doesn't know how to hiss. Baby cockatiels start to hiss at disturbances before they even open their eyes. They hear the parents doing it every time the box is opened, which means many will hear this behavior even from inside the egg in the last few days before they hatch, when parents and chicks are in communication. If indeed he didn't know how, then chances are very high that he was hand raised without clutch mates from an extremely young age, and possibly even hatched in an incubator.


Can you tell us any more of his story?

 

[SilverSage]

DNA testing is easy and costs less than $20 through Avian BioTech, I highly suggest it. Please do everything in your power to prevent egg laying. Cockatiels are very prone to compulsive egg laying and can be hard to stop once they get started. It is much better for a pet bird to never start in the first place.

 

[swagheichou]

I will be getting ahold of a test soon. Thank you for your input. We will find out who is right soon enough!
Story: We had a friend through a youth organization and complaining of having a troublesome cockatiel who was loud and obnoxious and unhandleable. At the time, she stated she had it for a year, and we obtained it, and he has recently begun molting quiet heavily, and I will try to find a picture of him before the molting began.

 

[SilverSage]

In that case it could be that she kept her house pretty cold with not much natural sunlight, and it effected his body's signal to molt, delaying his molt until now. It could also be that he is shedding his pearls over more molts than usual, which is not all that rare, that he is one of those makes who retain quite a bit of pearling, a combination of all of those, or... That he is a girl and perhaps his molting has distorted the appearance and confused the observers

 

[swagheichou]

Here he is a month or two ago. Sweet baby

 

[riddick07]

Yes I did change it before you posted lol. I've gotten three female tiels to stop laying before so it's not always a death sentence if they start...I do agree that if you can get it to not happen at all that would be better. The only three females I've owned were the laying culprits I haven't worked with any other laying female tiels because I generally can't stand the noise the foster tiels add to the mix. Luckily the current three tiel fosters have stopped annoying me and learned to be quiet!

My girls started laying when they were 4 years old after we moved houses and the new one had a lot more windows and light. I've just left eggs with them and used sleep cages, plus they are flighted, red raspberry leafs, and they eat well....so they are strong, eggs develop well even after quite a few , and have the muscle tone to help lay the eggs. I'm sure something could still go wrong when they lay but reducing the risk can be helpful if in the end you can't stop them from laying. My top windows are pretty much impossible to get to easily since they are up very high with no blinds or curtains. Sleep cages are best in the summer to easily reduce light instead of curtains and a ladder were I kill myself climbing it at some point....because I'm just that graceful...

Ah you posted pics while I was typing they are very pretty together

 

[SilverSage]

You are right it's not always a death sentence I just always add that warning any time someone mentions eggs as a way of telling gender because I have known people to encourage it, and that's unwise. I'm sure you never would of course

 

[Blancaej]

Just wanted to say he/she is a cutie!

 

[riddick07]

You are right it's not always a death sentence I just always add that warning any time someone mentions eggs as a way of telling gender because I have known people to encourage it, and that's unwise. I'm sure you never would of course

I'm always amazed by how many they can lay when they get going (my original girl laid about 50 eggs before I got her to stop), so I can definitely see why you wanted to give the warning My girls laid 20 probably between them this year....when I went away the person I had taking care of them threw away the fake eggs so they laid some more while I was gone as replacements