Merlin is really a Girl!

[DaveB]

Well I had to post this. We have a mini McCaw (Hans) named Merlin that we inherited from a friend. Merlin is well trained (as well as you can train a Hans!) and has a fairly good vocabulary, particularly saying "I am a Good Boy" and "My Name is Merlin" to strangers. Merlin is about 14 years old, and for years always gets aggressive once per year. We have always blamed this on mating season.

Merlin has been acting strange for a week and has been very protective of under the bed and demanded to be let out of the cage to go under the bed. Well, guess what I discovered under the bed today - An Egg.

I guess "Merlin" will need to be called "Merletta" from here forward!

After 13 years of ownership, we are all very shocked to say the least!

 

[Featheredsamurai]

It's always a huge surprise when that happens, the couple I adopted Kenji from had a 25 year old blue and gold macaw named Zachery, at 24 years of age "he" laid an egg for the first time LOL

Goes to show you that we can never be too sure of gender

 

[Blancaej]

LOL! Savannah's previous owners named her Sinbad and when she was 9, she laid an egg! When we adopted her, we thought it was about time to give her a name that suited her better.

 

[MonicaMc]

It's actually a good reason to know the sex of your bird, regardless of whether or not you ever plan to breed! Males can't lay eggs, and knowing that could quickly rule out some medical problems associated to one sex or the other!

Congrats on your "Merletta"!



I had an older conure for 8 years that I thought was female due to a lack of male behaviors... although he really didn't display male or female hormonal behaviors one way or the other so I couldn't be sure anyway! But DNA testing said male!

 

[TheKomoman]

Our 15 year old re-homed B&G has some behaviors that have me wondering just how much of a male "he" actually is, but I'd say an egg is pretty conclusive! Perhaps you can channel 80's Chevys and call her Merlinetta...