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I guess I just don't know for sure if Danny is a boy or a girl. I may have to go ahead and get a dna test done. But I do know for sure Danny is just starting first moult the last week, so maybe I should just wait for that to get overwith and see? What do you all think?

Behavior Danny has is female, but sometimes I hear sweet warblely sounds coming from his/her cage when he/she is playing with some toys. No singing yet but there are only 2 of them, and my other is a girl for sure. my gosh I am so confused by this baby.

My Mandi, she's suppose to be female... but sure is acting like a male. I want to post another pic up (she's actually getting a couple of tail feathers from her scraggly but! LOL).

My vet said female because she has horizontal strips on her tail feathers (or the ones on her lower back... i'm don't remember). But she talks up a storm and females are not suppose to be vocal.

On the otherhand, Amisi, my albino, acts more like a male but doesn't vocalize at all except for the screeches and chirps here and there... but I've noticed, with the new tail feathers that come in, there are some very faint horizontal strips, so I'm thinking he may be a she???

There's no breeding behavior and Mandi really doen't like Misi to much, lol


I don't think I would go through the expense of DNA testing though I would like to know. Are you planning on breeding?

I've heard of females that also make quite a bit of noise... I'd say wait the molt out and see if he/she looses any pearls, spots, or stripes!

not planning on breeding at this point in my life, but had not completely ruled out the possibility for the far ahead future either. I would not breed tiels unless I had been trained in handfeeding, and as of yet that has not happened, although I know someone that does this and would train me. I used to raise bengalese and zebra finches and greatly enjoyed it, so I know all the things breeders of birds go through. it is a lot of work and dedication and not to mention money.

mostly i just want to know, but it is so hard waiting. I guess I should just wait it out. we really wanted a boy though to hear him singing just for the sake of being happy with life. I love the male tiels song!

as much as danny is attaching to me though I tend to think more then likely female though.

Hi Tina,

Young birds can be difficult to visually sex, but there are a few things that stand pretty good tests of time, of course depending on age. One of the very first things a male will do is start vocalizing, and tapping his beak on things. Chibi who we thought for a long time was a girl ended all questions when he started beating on the cage, wood, us, and such, but he was still then only about 4 months old. The barring on the tail feathers works pretty good after the first molt, but with lutino's it's almost impossible to tell unless you can detect a very faint horizontal bar somewhere in the tail plumage. Pixie, a lutino, we "think" is a female, but are not 100% certain, even at the age of 6-7 months. There is absolutely no indications of bars, but she does not act like a male, and is very quiet. I have seen her beat on the cage once or twice, but nothing like the males do. At times, she will softly chirp some sequence of chirps, but nothing what you'd call a "song"; It's more like just noise. Ginger is definitely female, as she is keeping her bars on her tail feathers, and she is now approx 8-9 months old, but the vet told me almost without question at 4 months, she was female. Some other indications of male are of course the vocalizing. None of my girls are vocal to any degree, however Missy is the loudest of the bunch, and then only to cry out when she issues a warning. Of course she chirps a little, but no singing and such, and I'm positive she is a hen as she's laid an egg. No questions there. FWIW, the females here seem to be much more intelligent than the males, in as such as they can usually figure out simple stuff like unhooking a chain, or things of that nature, where the boys are kind of "dummies" in that respect, even Smokey, who is 7 or 8 years old. He's kind of like a camera -- with no film Females here all want to cuddle, where the males are less apt to, and Smokey will not cuddle at all. The exception to all that is Gizmo. He's very cuddly, and really enjoys his scritches. I know there are exceptions to all the sexing rules, but this is what I've discovered. There are a couple more, like the shape of the body, and palpating the pelvic bones, but unless you can do it without the bird being completely relaxed, it's useless. All the females I have are more slim and bullet shaped than the males, and the other thing is when they perch, they will sometimes appear to have more flexibility in their rumps than the males, which is just an observation, but believe me, I DO observe things like that.

If you could post some good closeup late-date shots, maybe one of us might see something that would help.. dunno.. sure can't hurt anything.

HTH

Hi Sam.

The pics I have already posted are the lastest I have so far. Danny has been banging his/her beak on the cage bars and on my hand already, and still does his/her warbles to certain toys during the day and right after bedtime when the cover goes on the cage and the living room is still occupied. So far though he/she still has the baby tail feathers, most of which are broken to some degree. I understand those are the last to molt out though and since the molt has only been going on for the last week or so I would imagine it would be maybe another 6 weeks to know anything for sure. Danny seems to really be getting most of the new feather growth right on his/her head right now. Danny also does "big wings" all the time too on all the toys and food dishes and while running around like a little chicken on the bottom of the cage. Still nothing close to singing either, but that could also be because I do not have any males around too right? Danny is and has been pretty vocal, but mostly chirping and screeching when something is not going his/her way. I also had to remove the mirror because Danny is obsessed with attacking the image of himself/herself. Oh yes, I have looked at The little feathers just under the tail right behind the vent area and they do not have bars on them, and seem to be pied in coloration, but since danny is a pearl pied not sure if that is not unnatural. The bars are only on the tail feather so far and 1 tail feather is birght yellow with no bars.

My lutino Jack still has her tail bars and she is an old bird of unknown age, but old enough to start her "armpit" feathers thinning out. I can see her tail bars even on her little feathers under her tail.

Hi Tina,

I'd almost venture to guess Danny is a he, based on the banging, and also the agressive response to a mirror. None of my girls even wants to see themselves in a mirror, but the guys will show off, spread wings, chirp, scream, make heart wings, and bang at the "other birdie". Still, he could turn out to be female, but if there are only a few feathers that have bars, as you said, they will be the last to molt out and would probably grow back in without. I'd thought of dna sexing my lutino, but I don't like the idea of pulling 5 breast feathers (ouch!) and it really does not matter what sex she turns out to be. She's a little on the slow side mentally, and I don't expect her to gain much more than what she has. Probably a severly inbred chick from not so good parents. She's not gone through her first molt yet either, so I'll just wait.

i'm with you on the feather pulling. I would not want to do it either which is why i have chosen to wait it out and see. i wish for danny to be a male, but if not it is perfectly ok too. Danny is such a character already. athough my gut is telling me he is a she just because. although i could definately be wrong for sure. lol