Sexing young Red Belly?

[greenmeadows]

I recently purchased a young red bellied poicephalus and the breeder was reluctant to take a guess as to the sex of the bird because it can sometimes take them several months to get their adult coloring. Can anyone tell me at what age I can expect to know if it is a male or female? It is probably about 3 months old now. I have named he/she Ollie but would like to talk about the bird without using neuter pronouns.

 

[Frumpydumple]

You could get him/her DNA tested.

 

[Flboy]

They supply free kits: Avian Biotech
Avian Services Center: DNA sexing and disease testing for all species of birds.

 

[thekarens]

Once he/she molts obviously you'll know for sure what sex you have. I want to say by a year, but I can't remember when my sennies had their first molt. Hopefully Julie will be along soon.

 

[MikeyTN]

I just messaged you a link about sexing, let me know if that works for you.

 

[RavensGryf]

Unfortunately I don't remember Robin's first molt cause it was 20 years ago lol .

Although females can have male coloring as juveniles, I don't think it's ever quite as much orange as a juvenile male. Then maybe they do sometimes? I could be wrong on that since I'm not a breeder .

Do you have a pic? Some species typically have a subtle head shape difference even as juveniles. Of course it isn't fool proof, but many times a male will have a flatter, larger head and beak than a female. You can make a guess that way if you're familiar with the comparison.

But judging by Griffin's molt, (Ruppell's, also a small Poi) he started the big molt at maybe around 6 months? At a year old now, he's about 80% in adult color I think although Ruppell's aren't very colorful.

As others have said, you can send for a DNA kit if you'd like to know quickly and for sure. The vet can do it for you and send out the sample, but it's much more expensive that way.

 

[thekarens]

After having both a male and female sennie it's very obvious to me the difference between male and female. Sydney's head and beak are much larger and his head is flat and Sammie's is round. But if I had only one I doubt I would have been able to tell the difference.

 

[Grraarrgghh]

Without DNA sexing, you're pretty much just guessing (though educated guesses can be made based on proportions of the beak and certain colorations).

I've been told by my breeder the first real molt should occur ~1 year give or take a month, but it can variate based on their diet, stress, environment (average temperature/humidity), and light cycles.

 

[RavensGryf]

If you've seen enough Pois you can make a pretty good educated guess. It goes without saying that DNA is the best method, but even then I've heard of rare mistakes being made there too!

 

[greenmeadows]

Thanks to everyone for their answers to my question. So it will be either DNA or wait until the bird has its first molt at about 1 year to see the final feather coloration. My last bird was a Quaker and it was head shape sexed to be a male. He had definite male head shape. At the age of eleven HE laid an egg. Oops! Now I'm wondering if you can sex a parrot by examing their vent the way you can baby chickens. If you can then this bird is a female. Does anyone know if parrots can be sexed this way?

 

[RavensGryf]

They say the pelvic bones (if you know where to feel) are closer if male, and farther apart if female (think of farther in female for an egg to pass). Still, if you aren't experienced or familiar with feeling a bunch of them to compare, it would be hard.

Poicephalus are the genus that I'd say has the most marked visual difference in head/beak size and shape of male vs female. In most other species (including Quakers) it would be more subtle.

Why not check out avian biotech and send for a kit. Either a small smear of blood from a clipped toenail, or breast feathers. Around $25. Results online fairly fast. Though nothing is ever foolproof, it's rare that mistakes are made this way.