Re: Male/Female
Posted by ellie on 3/03/08

On 2/06/08, Val wrote:
> My daughter got a new young cockatiel. We're not sure on
> the sex yet. He/she is starting to make this little rolling
> whistle. Do females wolf whistle also? The breeder said it
> was to early to tell if it was a male . It's a yellow
> cheek. Do they get the same sold grey tail like the normal
> gray when they mature?

Dear Val,

Hubby & I had two cockatiels. Turned out one was female and
the other was male. Couldn't tell till they were mature and
one started laying eggs and the other mounted the female, so
we then knew it was a male. From talking to our veteranian
doctor who also had two cockatiels, he said that the only
way to really know early is to "sex" them which is a
surgical procedure, and is painful for the birds. He did
not recommend it. His two were named Harry and Harriet and
he found out the same as we did, after a couple of
years "Harry" started laying eggs and "Harriet" was the male.

Our two were "Sydney" the female (YES!) and Ladybird the
male! We referred to them as he and she for the beginning
years incorrectly and continued so as not to confuse them
and ourselves. After all, they don't really know what "he &
she" meant.

Sadly, Sydney died of old age five years ago (spent hundreds
to try and save him!) and Ladybird remains with us at age
17! She was affected greatly by Sydney's death and for a
full year she (he) explored everywhere and called for him
(her) constantly. She lost interest in the many things they
did together. We didn't want to start over with another
bird mate for her as no one could assure us of sex, and we
were told they mate for life anyway, and they may end up not
accepting one another, fighting and such.

She gets lots of attention and love from us and seems
content enough now.

Also from talking to other cockatiel owners, seems male
birds tend to be more vocal and squawk a lot, which happened
to us.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,
Ellie

Posts on this thread, including this one

• Male/Female, 2/06/08, by Val .
• Re: Male/Female, 3/03/08, by ellie.
• Re: Male/Female, 3/03/08, by Mrs. Know It All.
• Re: Male/Female, 3/05/08, by TERESA.
• Re: Male/Female, 3/07/08, by Me.
• Re: Male/Female, 3/08/08, by Connie.
• Re: Male/Female, 3/17/08, by teresa.
• Re: Male/Female, 3/24/08, by Connie.
• Re: Male/Female, 4/11/08, by Alison.