How to determine the sex of a parrot

There are 324 known species of parrots, of which about 150 live in Australia and its adjacent islands, 140 species live in Central and South America. The rest inhabit the countries of Southeast Asia, Africa, and the island of Madagascar. Most species live primarily in countries with tropical climates; some parrots, such as cockatiels, can live in subtropical and temperate zones.

Cockatiels (or nymphs) are the second most numerous species found in Australia, and the second most popular to keep at home after budgerigars.

Typical scientists classify them as belonging to the family Psittacidae. The scientific name of cockatiels is Nymphicus hollandicus. Corellas appeared in our country in 1960.

EXTERNAL STRUCTURE OF THE STUDY CORELLA

For well-known reasons, I especially carefully studied the information about the plumage of birds. The plumage of these parrots is quite colorful and beautiful. The female differs from the male in having lighter plumage, the spots near the ears are orange-red, less bright than those of the male, the head and crest are yellow. Lutinos are pure white cockatiels. As it turned out, it is the lutinos that live in our living corner. To get acquainted with my ward, I will describe her external structure: the body length of our cockatiel is 316 mm, the length of her wing is 172 mm, her tail is 169 mm, her body weight is 114 g. She has a long pointed tail and a fairly long crest on her head, beak resembles the beak of a cockatoo, legs with short metatarsals and weak toes, wings long and pointed, tail wedge-shaped.

While studying reference literature, I paid special attention to disorders of the skin and feathers of parrots. I learned that the body of birds is covered with feathers of different types. Areas of skin not covered with feathers are called apteria, those covered with feathers are called pterilia. Instead of the coccygeal gland, there are special areas on the skin of parrots - the so-called powders - that produce the smallest pollen. It covers the entire plumage of parrots. Parrots apply “powder” to individual areas of their plumage using their beaks. According to their structure and purpose, as well as their shape, feathers are divided into down feathers, contour feathers (coverts, flight feathers and tail feathers), tassel feathers, filamentous and bristle feathers.

October 14, 2008 I met a parrot. He looked very pitiful. The appearance of the parrot was frightening: the entire parietal part of the head, neck, and cheeks were bare, and the ear openings were clearly visible. He did not live in the cage alone. The second parrot was apparently absolutely healthy.

A natural question arose: which of them is female and which is male? As it turned out, it is quite difficult to determine the sex of lutinos by external signs. The reference literature says that the plumage in the area of the ear openings should be brighter in males. But which one is the male? A sick bird has almost no cheek feathers.

I was very interested in this question: which of them is female and which is male? This is how the first problem emerged: How to determine the gender of cockatiel parrots kept in a zoo corner, when it is not possible to do this by the color of the bird’s feathers?

Hypothesis:

a living corner cage contains a female and a male;
there are two males in a living corner cage;
there are two females in a living corner cage.

Reasoning: In the nest I found 2 eggs laid by the parrots under study. This means that at least one female is present in the cage.

Assumption: one of the parrots is female, or both parrots are female.

Reasoning: To establish the gender of each of the presented parrots, it is necessary to answer the following question: is there a male in the cage?

October 21, 2008 I decided to study the internal structure of the egg using a magnifying glass. Here's what I discovered: the egg in question contains a germinal disc. To be more confident, I turned to reference literature, which describes the structure of a chicken egg. I compared a cockatiel egg with a chicken egg, they differed only in size, both had germinal discs. The presence of a germinal disc in the egg of a cockatiel indicates the presence of a male in our cell.

First conclusion: There is a male and a female in the cage.

The following question arose: which of the presented parrots is male?

To answer this question, we had to take radical measures - to separate the parrots. On October 24, 2008, the parrots were placed in different cages. They were very indignant and protested with loud cries. Moreover, the healthy parrot showed more anxiety. To relieve tension and calm the birds, the cages were placed nearby. One parrot was even allowed to leave it and sit in its own cage: this way, it turned out, it was easier for them to communicate with each other. It seemed that nothing would come of such an undertaking. But on October 25, 2008, another egg appeared in the nest of the sick bird.

Second conclusion: the sick bird is a female, the healthy parrot is a male. This was confirmed by the more active behavior of the male. He manages the relationship, subjugating the female. He loudly makes a variety of sounds, demonstrating his ability to imitate: whistling artistically, etc.