Poll on Sexing of Congo Greys

[Connie]

Hello everyone,

 

I think I might have found a way to tell the sex of Congo African Greys, I have noticed that the females not only have the rounded head like we all know, and the males heads are kinda squared... but the females don't have white at the tips of their wing feathers, where the males do! Please see picture below.

Both these birds are DNA sexed, and I wanted to take a poll of other birds here that are either DNA'd or proven, to see if this in fact is a way of sexing our birds. I'm not sure if this happens at a certain age, but from what I can tell from your pictures and my friends birds, this is a fact!

Tell me if this works for your DNA'd bird.

 

[fourtrap]

Hey Connie you might be on to something here. I have two DNA sexed CAG'S and what you are decribing is infact true on my greys. The male has the white on the tips of his wing feathers and the female has none. Be interesting to see how this poll turns out, should be interesting. Karma to you.

 

Benny

[perfectparrots]

umm let me go and take a look at my two.

[perfectparrots]

um just had a look at the feathers but cant see what you have described but my two are just 18months old at the moment. But the heads is totally correct Poppy's being rounder. I wil try and fine a picture of my two together.

[KatB]

I know your poll specifies CAGS, but for the record... My DNA sexed male TAG looks like the female in your photo (except for beak and tail, of course).

 

[perfectparrots]

Here is a picture of them as babies. the one at the back is Poppy. From a young aga you could tell the difference in the shape of their heads.

[kllorio]

I think that is a great observation! I know you said your observation was about CAGs, but I have pictures of my TAG and her clutch mate at the breeders, and they show exactly what you noticed. Way to go, very cool even if it isn't across the board. Karma to you for having a keen eye! :woohoo:

[judygram]

My Josey is DNA sexed as female and she is a Cag and she has the rounded head just like the female in Connie's post. Interesting!!!:cheer:

[danmcq]

Dayo is DNA sexed Male, he does have the flat head top (Lets not get this going as a male thing, I have a nicely rounded head ;-) ) But, he has not gone through his first Molt yet, so that could be why he does not have the white tips. He is presently 9 Months old.

 

It would be interesting IF the experts and scholars missed this all this time. You may be earning your PHD on this one Connie, once you prove it in your Thesis!! :-)

 

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[lovemyGreys]

Alfie & Freddie always had brooder male heads as opposed to the roundish female head, my breeder thought from day one they were both boys & they both have been sexed as boys Their feathers are still dark.

 

[Connie]

That could be the answer to Dan, that this doesn't occure until after the first molt!

 

Spanky (the male) is a little darker than Darla also. He is 2 in March, and she is 3 in August.

 

I haven't been able to prove this in TAG's.

[HeatherStrella]

Harrison was DNA tested and is "whoops she's a female..oh well, we'll keep her name..kind of female.."...lol

 

I thought this pic was good to look at her feathers

 

Here's a good one for the head and feather test

 

 

The breeder we got her from actually told us she was male because her head was the size and shape of a male...and her eyes were the size and shape of a male. Do you know what she meant by the eyes??

[Connie]

Never heard anything about the eyes, but I have heard that only the males will have white toesnails, which Spanky does have 2 of.?

 

Both pics of Harrison look female to me, and she is also very light feathered. Still, dark tips instead of white! Interesting.

[Connie]

Males also tend to have darker even black on their tails, which I haven't seen much of in females.

[chapala]

My Kali is DNA'd male, and he does not have the white scalloping on the wing feathers. He does have the more flattened head shape. I'll try to attach a photo.

Reta

 

P.S. Tried several ways to attach a photo with no luck! Sorry.<br><br>Post edited by: chapala, at: 2008/02/04 02:56

[Connie]

chapala wrote:

My Kali is DNA'd male, and he does not have the white scalloping on the wing feathers. He does have the more flattened head shape. I'll try to attach a photo.

Reta

 

How old is Kali? Has he had his first molt?

[lovemyGreys]

Here is a good link on the tails..

 

 

http://www.exoticpetvet.net/avian/appgreys.html

 

 

And one for the eyes...

 

http://www.birdtalk.eu/forum/general-parrot-info/68-visual-sexing-theory-african-grey-parrots.html&h=300&w=300&sz=12&hl=

[BMustee]

My Elmo is not yet sexed, but I know from his parents and one grey at my work that the physical traits are never 100%. My greys father is a small and very, very light. His mother is a huge dark, almost all black Behemoth nearly twice the fathers size. I thought at first when I saw them that it was vise-versa but then the breeder told me otherwise. There is also a grey at my work that is the typical female with a large gap in the pelvic bone, but was DNA'd male. The one lady at my work used to be a breeder and kept calling he a she, but when we showed her his paperwork from the lab she was shocked.

[chapala]

"How old is Kali? Has he had his first molt?"

 

Yes, Kali is way beyond his first molt - he is almost 6 years. Interestingly when I picked him out between two different young Greys, I thought he was female based on the head shape, rounder at that time than it is now, and in comparison with the other bird who had a flatter head. The breeder who had shipped him up to a place about 2 hours from us (he came from near Mexico City, one of the best breeders in Mexico) also thought Kali was female, "90% sure". So I called him "she" for quite awhile until the dna was done!

Reta

[Toni]

Alcazar will be 9 months, he still has the dark grey feathers no white tips.

[Connie]

 

Spanky seems to have the white tips at 5 months. Maybe there is nothing to this, but I found it very interesting.

 

BMustee, I looked at the pics you uploaded, and I think yhou have a female. But who knows?

[Connie]

You should make it a contest, if you plan on sexing him/her. Guess the sex of BMustee's baby!

[Kibibi]

Very interesting. Kibibi (DNA sexed female) supports your theory. She has a round head and no white tips on her wing feathers. You can see a good picture on my pics page (Picture #38)

http://www.infosuperflyway.com/pictures.php

[chapala]

Okay, finally got a photo of Kali posted to the Photo Album, on #1 when I checked. He is nearly 6 years old (possible changes in the white tipped feathers with molting?) and is dna'd male. No white tipped feathers on his wings.

Reta

[Connie]

Nice picture!

 

I know you said he was DNA'd, and I'm not saying this to offend you, but it also looks like he has the eyes of a female according to the link on the first page of this post. Also, more of a round head than a square one, but that is a little harder to tell in that picture. Weird.

Thanks for the photo and info!