how to sex???

demons · Member Joined: Oct 10, 2005 Posts: 9

what is the easiest way to tell Male and females???

i recently lost a bird....i think was a male .....and want to replace it..

gypsie · Regular Member Joined: Jun 30, 2005 Posts: 23

eddie and lulu still trying the mating game ,still no eggs.although i know eddie is male ,im not sure about lulu if i can post a picture could any help to let me know what sex they think lulu is please?

Peter · Foundation Member Joined: Oct 15, 2004 Posts: 599

Males have generally larger beaks in comparison with females. They also dance and they bob with their heads while their eyes are pinpointing. They also make clicking sounds with their beak.

Peter

wyndara · Snr Member Joined: Jun 19, 2005 Posts: 113

lulu looks to me to be a male, the beak looks too big to be a hen. it would be nice to see both birds together then we could compare beak sizes etc.

gypsie · Regular Member Joined: Jun 30, 2005 Posts: 23

thanks ! lulu who was named at my local pet shop might have to be called louie instead.i will try to post pic of eddie who i know is definetly male. gypsie

Cchan · Member Joined: Jan 05, 2006 Posts: 12

Very unfortunately, these birds are impossible to sex unless you see them mating or use DNA methods. Although males tend to have greater bill sizes (bill length is slightly more reliable than bill width, I think), there exist an overlapping range.

Kaka-riki · Site Admin Joined: May 30, 2005 Posts: 363

We have in the past supplied feathers for DNA testing here in Australia. Unfortunately the results were very inaccurate which has led Curtin University here in Australia to advise against DNA sexing using feathers as a guide. Kakariki are one of few parrots that dont return positive results using this meathod.

The best way to sex these birds is whilst they are still in the nest. The larger broader beak of the cock bird is very easy to pick at around 2 weeks of age.

Cchan · Member Joined: Jan 05, 2006 Posts: 12

We have got DNA sexing working for Forbes' parakeets with some modifications of the general sexing protocol. However, how well it works for other kakarikis, I don't know.

Steptoe · Site Admin Joined: Oct 06, 2004 Posts: 4550

Look carefully at Kakarikis avatar the top one is the male signlol

notice the beak size

Cchan THAT is a nice looking yellow male on your avatar...yours? got a full pic?

Cchan · Member Joined: Jan 05, 2006 Posts: 12

That is a clip from the standard DoC picture of a Forbes' parakeet (hybrid). Sorry, don't have the full picture.

Allen · Foundation Member Joined: Oct 14, 2004 Posts: 269

I can only comment on the Red Fronted as I have not had much to do with yellow fronteds. Normal Red Fronteds are quite easy to sex, the male is larger (if you hold your birds in your hand, you can feel the difference), the body / tail has a different shape, the beak of the male is substantially larger and even a slightly different shade of grey and there is a difference in the shape of the head. It is easy to sex adult birds, sometimes there can be a little doubt about the sex of young birds but most times, it is possible to tell the sex when baby kakariki are only about three weeks old. Mutations are a little more difficult to sex as in my experience some of the male cinnamons and lutinos are smaller than normal males.

Don't worry about DNA sexing or anything else post a pic and I am positive that our members will get the sex right at least 95% of the time.

gypsie · Regular Member Joined: Jun 30, 2005 Posts: 23

please could we have a vote on whether lulu is male or female? its my my red headed yellow kakariki?
also at the moment they are living happily together i dont want to seperate them. i know if they start to fight i will have too.

Steptoe · Site Admin Joined: Oct 06, 2004 Posts: 4550

Looking at both I would say the yellow mutation is a male, the other not sure, maybe also male??... a better pic in focus would help

neoleo · New Member Joined: Jan 19, 2006 Posts: 3

hi i just read the post here and it says about the male dancing the female i have runs up and down the pruch spinning round and round boobing her head ?? is she really a female wall

its so funny to watch her doing this dance link to the her pics >>> http://www.kakariki.net/ftopict-483-.html

Cchan · Member Joined: Jan 05, 2006 Posts: 12