If you've recently purchased a parakeet, you might want to know what sex it is. This can be deduced from the colors, and also from the behavior or song of the bird. If, after all, there are still doubts, consult a veterinarian or the breeder from whom you bought the bird.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Identifying Sex by Color
Step 1. Find the wax
This is the skin that surrounds the top of the beak. It will be easier to find if you remember that this is where the parakeet's nostrils are (two deep holes). Every parakeet has a yellowish wax, but the specific shade varies according to sex.
Step 2. Identify a male
During the mating period, the wax of most male parakeets is a bright color close to royal blue or, in some specimens, slightly purplish. Outside it, the wax takes on a whitish blue tone.
If you're sure the bird is male and its wax is brown, it could be sick
Step 3. Identify a female
The wax of the adult female is white or light brown. As it becomes fertile and ready to lay eggs, this color will approach a dark pink or brownish color.
During the mating period, the wax thickens and accumulates secretions. This buildup can be up to 1 cm thick
Step 4. Take age into account
It will be difficult to determine the sex by color in parakeets less than four months old. Before that age, color changes are very frequent, making it very difficult - but not impossible - to accurately identify the sex. Your bird is not yet four months old if it has black eyes, streaks above the wax, and has not yet undergone its first feather change.
Puppies' wax (ie, parakeets less than four months old) is usually pink. In males, it gradually turns purple, whereas in females, it gains white circles or turns completely white. From eight months onwards, the wax starts to approach a very bright pink or purple, until it reaches the specific color of each sex at approximately 12 months of life
Step 5. Understand the challenges that identifying sex by color involves
Not counting the changes in the parakeet's body during the mating season, numerous other factors can interfere with the color of the wax. Females can experience hormonal imbalances that give the wax a light blue hue. Some specimens have genetic mutations that interfere with how color manifests-in such specimens, color is never a reliable indicator.
For example: every albino parakeet has pink wax, making it impossible to distinguish between males and females
Method 2 of 2: Identifying Sex by Other Methods
Step 1. Listen to the parakeet
Males are much louder than females, and like to chirp and chirp long songs. Females also make sounds, but in a not-so-musical way and don't seem as aggressive.
Males learn to sing from an early age
Step 2. Observe the behavior
Males shake their heads up and down and tap their beaks against the cage bars. They have a playful and outgoing temperament. Females, in turn, are more aggressive in the fertile period and introverted outside of it.
You might see the male smack the female with his beak and regurgitate food for her. There's nothing to worry about - this behavior is normal during mating
Step 3. Ask someone you trust for their opinion
When buying a parakeet from a breeder or pet shop, ask for the sex. There are also DNA analysis kits on the market that reveal the sex of parakeets.
Another option is to ask a veterinarian to determine the sex. If possible, consult a bird specialist
Tips
- If the parakeet is tame, don't catch it. Just let it perch on your finger or a perch to examine the wax up close.
- The feet are slightly bluish in some males and pink in some females.