What gender is this year old Cockatiel?

[Nambroth]

Pearling in cockatiels is linked to gender-- after maturity, 99% of male pearl cockatiels will lose their beautiful speckles. If this bird is over a year old, it's a 99% sure a hen!

Most cockatiels are sexually dimorphic once they are mature. With so many mutations these days, 'bright cheeks and face' is NOT a reliable way to sex them, however other clues are! Spots under the primary feathers (the flight feathers on the wing-- only visible when the wing is open), and barring on the vent feathers (feathers that cover the vent-- barring, not spotting) are two great clues to a hen, as well.

 

[KBlue]

It's a girl!

And she is purdy.

 

[Chicks & Chickens]

Thanks, everyone!
And CochinBrahmaLover: It's okay! I appreciate every reply. And Moonkit: She/He shares a cage with Cooper, who is a male, and she/he has for her/his whole life! I guess it's around time for the mating cycle at the age of a year old, and she's in the nest (as usual) and she's been going there every single time I let her out of the cage. Also, Cooper has been going to her and saying, "Hello pretty bird!" in her face and it's SO cute!

Thanks for your help, and like I said, I appreciate every response : )

 

[Chicks & Chickens]

"It's a girl!

And she is purdy. "

Kblue: Thanks!

 

[Chicks & Chickens]

I checked under her wing: Spotted all across, along with bars on the 1st row.
Under her tail: Barred and spotted!
So, female I think!

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

I checked under her wing: Spotted all across, along with bars on the 1st row.
Under her tail: Barred and spotted!
So, female I think!

you cant be 100% but her looks, and the fact she has spots, you can be 99.99%, only way to be 100% is, well if she lays an egg or you do a test


well I guess you can be 100%, but i dunno, and ya, shes a girl

 

[AquaEyes]

As Nambroth said above, if the cockatiel is over a year old and still has pearled markings, it's a girl. Even those few males that retain some pearling will have only hints of it, nothing like the pattern retained by your girl. There's no need to look further at anything else -- you've got a girl. The only cockatiels that are hard to sex visually are those that are pied or lutino.

 

[Moonkit]

Thanks, everyone!
And CochinBrahmaLover: It's okay! I appreciate every reply. And Moonkit: She/He shares a cage with Cooper, who is a male, and she/he has for her/his whole life! I guess it's around time for the mating cycle at the age of a year old, and she's in the nest (as usual) and she's been going there every single time I let her out of the cage. Also, Cooper has been going to her and saying, "Hello pretty bird!" in her face and it's SO cute!

Thanks for your help, and like I said, I appreciate every response : )

A year is a little young to let her start brooding.. I think a year and a half is considered the minimum to really allow them to breed. And really waiting until 2 years is better. She's still young.. don't let her start trying to lay eggs before her body is ready (they will try.) You might want to take out the nest box until you're sure you're ready to let her raise babies (and be ready for the commitment yourself.). Be sure she gets access to lots of cuttlebones.. she'll need the calcium.

 

[Chicks & Chickens]

A year is a little young to let her start brooding.. I think a year and a half is considered the minimum to really allow them to breed. And really waiting until 2 years is better. She's still young.. don't let her start trying to lay eggs before her body is ready (they will try.) You might want to take out the nest box until you're sure you're ready to let her raise babies (and be ready for the commitment yourself.). Be sure she gets access to lots of cuttlebones.. she'll need the calcium.

Okay, my mistake then... I put the nest in her cage and now I guess I should take it out? She hatched somewhere around December 2010, so almost a year and 3 months. And about the calcium.... She won't touch a single one of the mineral blocks nor cuttlebones! Only her brother does. So, are there any other calcium sources for birds? I mean, I know fruits and stuff are great, but I don't know how she'll eat the CALCIUM stuff that I provided her with. Her name is Murphy (Ha ha) so I don't know if I should keep calling her that or not. But, I have a female Mama cat named Toby, who, again, was told as a male, and is actually a female. And I'm stuck with Murphy. I'll keep it Murphy, and then everyone will see that I'm clearly bad with genders. Ha ha

 

[Nambroth]

I mean no disrespect, but why are you wanting to breed her? Here's some food for thought.

If you are just trying to let her be happy, cockatiels can spend their entire lives as pets happily never nesting-- and truly, they often live longer lives if they are not stressing their bodies with eggs and rearing chicks. Are you prepared for what to do if she abandons one or all of the chicks? Hand-feeding can be rewarding, but it can be exhausting, messy, and very time intensive... not to mention that if you do it incorrectly you can kill the chick or otherwise harm it. Improper nutrition at this stage of life can lead to life-long heath problems in the bird, too.

If you are breeding for other reasons, please consider that most of the bird rescues in the USA are overflowing and turning away new cockatiels right now.

Do you know the history of her parents? Does any of the birds in the line form her or his past have a history of health, genetic, or chronic egg laying problems? A big problem amongst cockatiels is that historically breeders have irresponsibly bred the hen cocktaiels that produced the most eggs and the most clutches-- which makes sense, until you realize that a cockatiel is not a chicken and her body is not made to lay eggs and lay eggs and lay eggs. If you want to read some heartbreaking stories, read the people whose beloved pet hen cockatiels become chronic egg layers and develop serious health problems. Nothing is worse than having loved pet turn into a series of expensive vet bills-- or worse, to have her die early from egg binding or other complications. Some people, myself included, struggle for years with chronic egg problems.

I'm not trying to scare you off of it. I just wanted to make sure you understood what it all means. If you decide to breed-- go for it, no one will stop you! But make sure you are prepared and educated.