Is my cockatiel male or female?

[emily323]

Hey, I'm new to this forum & I'm trying to figure out if my tiel' is a male or female (w/o a DNA test) He is around 5 months & I think he'll be turning 6 months this April (assuming he was hatched in October)
He has not had his big 1st molt yet, pin-feathers pop up occasionally, but he hasn't been losing a huge amount of feathers, nor have there been any changes in his mood.

Facts about my bird:
- He's a clumsy baby & broke most of his tail feathers. Some of them have grown back - 1 grey feather is fully grown out, has spotting on the surface but the bottom of the feather is darker & completely solid grey (no spots or barring) Another 1 is coming in just the same. A yellow feather is also growing in & does have the barring.

- I think a flight feather grew in because it's awkwardly longer than all the others, and it does have spots (he never lost one though?)

- He is usually very hyper active, he can never stay in one spot for too long. His favorite game is running back & forth in front of the window chasing his reflection & trying to attack it.

- Outside the cage, he is mostly quiet - but alone in his cage, he can get pretty loud. He'll sometimes go on for 10 minutes "practicing" making all kinds of noise, different whistles, some even sound like he's trying to talk - it's actually pretty comical. He also has very loud screams or 'flock calling' when he wants attention. This is the only male behavior I've noticed (no beak banging or heart wings yet)

- He can have an attitude (esp. when it comes to going back in his cage) and he'll bite/nip when he doesn't get his way.

^ based on those facts, do you think it's a male or a female? I'm so confused

Here's a picture of him

 

[cdog]

Could you take a pic of the underside of his tail? That would tell us what gender he or she is.

 

[stephend]

It sounds like a female. You descirbed a new feather as being spotted and that would be indicitive of a female. Assuming it is a pearled cockatiel, something like this http://www.tieltreasures.com/Mutation/Pastel%20Face%20Pearl%20190.jpg, then as a female it will keep its spots, and if it's a male it will lose them after the first molt.

There are other ways to visibily sex a cockatiel if it is not a pearl, but I am not too familiar with them. I would recomend posting a picture of both sides of the tail if this is not helpful as I believe that some people on here should be able to tell from that.

 

[emily323]

Could you take a pic of the underside of his tail? That would tell us what gender he or she is.

I can try - I'll see if I can get one tomorrow. He still has some baby tailfeathers & the two new grey ones that grew in are solid dark grey underneath. Someone on another cockatiel forum said it may still have the spotting because he is not fully mature.

 

[cdog]

Yes if he is only 5 months then he is still immature. But I'm not sure at what age males lose the barring on the tail so another member would have to help with that.

 

[MikeyTN]

They go through their first major molt right around 9 months old. IF you look under his wing feathers and take a pic of it. It's more accurate then tail feather shot. Remember, only boys sing! Girls make noise, but not the same as boys does!!!! My boys start as early as 2 months old practicing their singing ability.

 

[emily323]

They go through their first major molt right around 9 months old. IF you look under his wing feathers and take a pic of it. It's more accurate then tail feather shot. Remember, only boys sing! Girls make noise, but not the same as boys does!!!! My boys start as early as 2 months old practicing their singing ability.

Yeah, I used to have a female cockatiel & she only made one sound which was flock calling. Compared to her, this cockatiel started vocalizing around @ 3 months old & makes so many different sounds, squeaks and whistles. I've heard whistles that sound very close to "pretty bird" & "Whatcha' doing?" so that's the main reason I think it's a boy.
I'll try to get a picture of under his wings if he lets me xD

 

[jewels04]

I had a female cockatiel and she whistled the andy griffith theme song ALL DAY! So girls can whistle too. And I know she was female because she laid eggs,lol.

 

[emily323]

I had a female cockatiel and she whistled the andy griffith theme song ALL DAY! So girls can whistle too. And I know she was female because she laid eggs,lol.

Aww that's SO cute. Female can be very talented, so maybe I have a whistling female

 

[MikeyTN]

They just don't have that big of ability like the males does though. Males do their little dance move with their wings open up like heart shape.

 

[emily323]

They just don't have that big of ability like the males does though. Males do their little dance move with their wings open up like heart shape.

My bird makes a variety of sounds and whistles, but I haven't seen the heart wing thing yet.