Duckie bird

[AmberC]

We got Duckie when she was (not sure if shes a she or not) 2 months old. Shes 5 months now and I had yet to clip her wings. They had fully grown out and she was flying really well. She'd even fly off her cage on top of the tv center (shes up there so the dog wont eat her) and land on my head LOL Anyways. I clipped her. She wasn't to happy about it. Shes handfed (by me) so she never bites hard, but she was hissing at me and nipping at me (it tickled cause she wont do it hard) afterwards. Heres a pic after she settled down up on her cage

 

[bittersweet]

very cute

 

[Sorrell]

I love lutinos! I'm not an expert at cockatiels, but I think she's a he from that cheek coloring...but don't quote me on that

 

[AmberC]

I am a birdie expert and cockatiels are NOT sexually dimorphic. Meaning you cannot tell sex by colorations, chirp or anything else. If it lays eggs its a female... the only other way is a blood test... which is expensive. I know people are going to disagree with me here, but I AM a birdie expert and you can disagree with me till your blue in the face... they are NOT sexually dimorphic. Sorry

 

[Sorrell]

From the research I've done, cockatiels in general are sexually dimorphic, unless they are a lutino, in that case a DNA test must be done to determine sex. I can see that your bird is a lutino and that's why I said, "Don't quote me on this"

 

[wuvmybetta]

She/he looks pretty ticked off Lovely bird though

 

[Paul_MTS]

i have 2 budgies one can't fly so he has to perch but after a few months hard work I can perch the the one that does fly now and she evens runs to my finger to perch on rather than me going to her.

but they both need some claw clipping now and she aint going to be happy with it which would be my hard work down the drain maybe i won't be around and let my dad do it

hope duckie forgives soon!!

 

[vantgE]

why do you clip them, we just let mine fly

 

[Raki]

It seems a bit extreem to clip wings but after you've seen a cockatoo fly in to a window and break it's neck you see why the wings need to be clipped

 

[vantgE]

hmm, your right we did notice a cocketiel face print on the window once looked like it hurt, but he loves to fly so i could never let his wings to be cliped

 

[AmberC]

Yeah its not very safe for Duckie to be flying around my house. One day she nearly fell into the back of my fish tank Plus during the summer I keep the back door open. I have no screen anymore due to the fact that my dog and daughter have gone thru it multiple times and its too hot not to have it open. Cant have Miss Ducks flying away on me!

Shes not mad at me anymore by the way LOL She got over it pretty quick. Oh and here is a quote:

Once that is established the next logical question when deciding to breed is do I have a true pair? Cockatiels are not sexually dimorphic which means that they are not visually distinguishable as male or female. DNA sexing is required by blood or feather to ascertain whether there is a true pair. About the only cockatiels that can be visually sexed are the normal grays and that can fool you because the male doesn't start to show the bright yellow face until he is four months old. I've been fooled a number of times. Some of the mutations can be visually sexed if you know the parents genetic background.

Winged Wisdom Pet Bird Magazine

So as I said.. the only TRUE way to sex a cockatiel is by DNA testing.

 

[Auratus]

I know some breeders that can tell by just looking at them but they have years of experience...

 

[AmberC]

I personally still wouldn't trust it. If you truly want to know the sex, get DNA breeders, even those who have been breeding all their lives, can still make mistakes.