Oh NO! Is HE a SHE???

[ChickenDog]

I've hade my Charlie for about 4 years now..... The owners before that had him for atleast 7. Hes a boy. Male. No doubt about it....... Well.....

 

Just today, I had his cage open, thinking he was out. Couldent find him. Looked at the bottem of the cage, there he was. (He loves to throw his pellets to the bottom of the cage and save them for later ) A few hours later, hes still there. I thought maby hes dish was out of food. Nope, nearly full.

 

Ok, so i open his cage, call him out. He darts up to the tops, making kissy sounds. Hes all extra lovey. I look to see what hes doing down there, and low and behold!!: I found a NEST. Yes, thats right a

N-E-S-T! from his(her) cotten string toy, and ripped newspaper.

 

Char has NEVER shown any types of sexual behavoir, nor has he had a mate, regurgitated, laid an egg, or nested. He's well old enough.

I've never had him DNA tested. Its not really important. Its just weird thinking thats my big boy could be a baby girl!!:woohoo:

[bettyboop]

LOLROF......

That is a surprise if he is a girl !!!!!Oh well , like you say , it doesnt matter. Guess she has plans .

Bettyboop

[HeatherStrella]

After 18 months, we found out Harrison was a "she"...at least "Charlie" can be a girly name. Are you going to have him/her DNA tested?

[Pchela]

Is there a way to tell without dna sexing?

[siobha9]

Yes, you would know for sure if he lays an egg...

[Tycos_mom]

Look on the underside of his/her tail they will be very faint and only on the very edges of a few feathers if you see any grey at all on any of the edges of her tail feathers its a girl the male have totaly red tails no slightly grey edges. this is only for a Congo if you have a Timnah then i think your only option is DNA Pat<br><br>Post edited by: Tycos_mom, at: 2008/05/16 08:59

[lovemyGreys]

Yes Pat i know of the grey edging Still not 100 % but a good guide.

The under tail coverts are directly under the tail feathers and consist of about eight feathers. Feathers of the hens will be edged in grey, while males will be solid red. Males will occasionally have a "hairline" of white on the edge.

[ChickenDog]

UPDATE:

After i wrote things, i spent some time with him. Well, my boyfriend (who lives with 3 birds, but is compleatly naive about them) was talking to Char, and said to "Hey! what are you doing charlie? Stop that. you dont do that!" What was he doing? The same thing my Meyers does to me: thinks i want whats in his crop!

 

Oh yeah,:reguritation. I thought charlie might be sick, but when he went out on his playstand, he was just lovey dovey. And the nest, is really just that (No eggs yet, but....)

 

Well, i think i'll still call him "Charlie", But spell it "Charley"

 

No, i really dont think i'm going to do a DNA testing. Its to expensive for a 50/50 shot of being right!! :laugh:

[Guest Skuffy]

Ive also been told by a very old man who bred Greys for Manyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Yrs,,,that back in the Days b4 DNA testing,,Males have a more flat crest on the top of its head ,,where a females head is more rounded..If you look at my max head he has the Flat Male look about him..You can see in his face he is Male..{Nature-00020095}

[danmcq]

DNA testing is the only way to truly know the sex of a Grey, barring an egg being laid. DNA testing is only $20, so it's not too terribly expensive.

 

Male Birds also build nest, not just females. It could be your grey just made a nice bed for himself and was very proud of it OR HE could be constructing a "Casbah" to lure you in to as his mate!! :-) B)

 

If you have a chance, it would be cool to see a photo of the nest he built.

[Guest Skuffy]

ok so B4 DNA how did a Breeder tell..DNA has been out that long,,Greys been around for Millions yrs.

[Guest Skuffy]

(about 1 year old..after their first molt)..you can tell between male..and females.

The females have a barred tail and spot's on the inside of her wings....and the males have a dark orange cheek patch and a solid colored tail.

[ChickenDog]

By the way, hes a Timneh Grey... not Congo.....

[spookyhurst]

Skuffy wrote:

ok so B4 DNA how did a Breeder tell..DNA has been out that long,,Greys been around for Millions yrs.

 

They used to do surgical sexing.

[HeatherStrella]

Skuffy, what do you mean by a "barred tail"? Harrison's (remember she's a female) tail is pretty solid red..

[poodlenparrot]

Skuffy wrote:

(about 1 year old..after their first molt)..you can tell between male..and females.

The females have a barred tail and spot's on the inside of her wings....and the males have a dark orange cheek patch and a solid colored tail.

 

Umm, this actually sounds like the way you visually sex Cockatiels, not African Greys.

 

I have also read that you can tell by tail feathers, head shape and the amount of black around the eye. With my first CAG I guessed based on those things and was correct (had her DNAed), I was also correct about one I saw at a bird fair (she had been DNAed, I guessed then asked the owner), but the only 100% way to tell really is DNA or if they lay an egg.

[poodlenparrot]

Skuffy wrote:

(about 1 year old..after their first molt)..you can tell between male..and females.

The females have a barred tail and spot's on the inside of her wings....and the males have a dark orange cheek patch and a solid colored tail.

 

Umm, this actually sounds like the way you visually sex Cockatiels, not African Greys.

 

I have also read that you can tell by tail feathers, head shape and the amount of black around the eye. With my first CAG I guessed based on those things and was correct (had her DNAed), I was also correct about one I saw at a bird fair (she had been DNAed, I guessed then asked the owner), but the only 100% way to tell really is DNA or if they lay an egg.

[Pchela]

Well, my baby is only 12 weeks old so I guess there's no way for me to even guess at his sex. The breeder said male, but he was just guessing as well. I think I'll opt for the dna test.

[danmcq]

Skuffy - There are only 3 ways to have ever sexed a with Grey 100% accuracy:

 

1) Surgical Sexing

2) DNA testing

3) Two Greys mate, one lays an egg which identifies it as a female and the other is by default a male.

 

The stuff you are mentioning and all other "wives tales" are ..... well...... horse dooky. B)