What mutation/sex of these Cockatiels

[LateBirdFarms]

My daughter has a pair of cockatiels that she's curious about the mutation of. Well, one.. the other is common colouring as far as we can tell. She was told they were male and female at the time they were given to her, but she's seen no sign of any sort of male/female behaviour so she's curious if anyone can tell her how to figure that out. I've tried to find online resources, but I haven't had much luck putting them to use. I know chickens, not itty bitty birdies! Thanks for your help! Both are about a year and a half old. If you need different angles, say the word!

Grace, who she was told was female, but I'm not sure if the breeder vent sexes, if theres a way to tell before first molt or what. Closest mutation we can find is a white faced pied.

Young Grace


Grayson, the male(?)

 

[JaeG]

Grayson is definitely a male. And Grace is what's known as a whiteface heavy pied or reverse pied, meaning she has more pied on her (the absence of grey) than grey. You'll have to go by behaviour to figure out if she is a she or a he because pieds are not sexually dimorphic. Girls tend to be quieter and don't strut like the boys will. Only boys will hold their wings slightly out to make a heart shape to impress the ladies. Girls tend to have more of a simple chirp whereas the boys will chortle and whistle.

Pied is recessive so unless Grayson is split to pied (he would have the odd yellow tick of colour somewhere in his grey, usually on the head) you will only get babies that look like Grayson. If Grayson is split to whiteface, another recessive colour, you would get some whiteface chicks, but there is no way of knowing if he does or not unless you breed them.

 

[Crestcrazy2]

My daughter has a pair of cockatiels that she's curious about the mutation of. Well, one.. the other is common colouring as far as we can tell. She was told they were male and female at the time they were given to her, but she's seen no sign of any sort of male/female behaviour so she's curious if anyone can tell her how to figure that out. I've tried to find online resources, but I haven't had much luck putting them to use. I know chickens, not itty bitty birdies! Thanks for your help! Both are about a year and a half old. If you need different angles, say the word!

Grace, who she was told was female, but I'm not sure if the breeder vent sexes, if theres a way to tell before first molt or what. Closest mutation we can find is a white faced pied.
View attachment 2250713
Young Grace
View attachment 2250714

Grayson, the male(?)
View attachment 2250715

Wow ! You have some amazing birds , unfortunately I can't help determine the gender of them . Hope you find out !

 

[LateBirdFarms]

Thank you both so much! That clears things up nicely. So miss Gracie is the ball Python equivalent to a high white pied, and for now stick with the guess she's female. Is it odd that there haven't been any eggs for a male female pair? (I don't particularly want eggs, just curious in order to determine sex, a chicken would have done their big gender reveal by now!)

 

[JaeG]

Thank you both so much! That clears things up nicely. So miss Gracie is the ball Python equivalent to a high white pied, and for now stick with the guess she's female. Is it odd that there haven't been any eggs for a male female pair? (I don't particularly want eggs, just curious in order to determine sex, a chicken would have done their big gender reveal by now!)

Some cockatiel hens lay eggs so often that it becomes a problem (constant egg laying will deplete their calcium stores) and some don't seem that inclined to have kids. If you gave them a nestbox that may change, but they definitely don't need to breed to be happy.

Even if you saw them mating the hen may not lay either. They will mate just for fun.

Do they preen each other at all? That is a sign of friendship and affection and most often seen in bonded pairs. Some birds just don't bond well enough to want to breed.