BirdVeterinarian

Bird Sex Determination

Common birds with sexual dimorphic differences

Bird Species	Female	Male
Budgerigar	Brown cere	Blue cere
Cockatiel (natural grey)	Grey cheeks, white bars on tail feathers	Yellow cheeks, no bars
Canary	Doesn’t sing in the breeding season	Sings in the breeding season
Eclectus	Red and blue feathers	Green feathers
Galah	Pink iris	Black iris
Princess Parrot	No spatula shape of ninth primary flight feather	Spatula shape of ninth primary flight feather
Sulphur Crested Cockatoo	Reddish-brown iris	Black or brown iris
Zebra Finch	Brown abdominal sides with white dots, grey chest	Pale-coloured abdomen and chest

There are no sexual dimorphic differences in lorikeets, peachfaces and many cockatiel variations.
Immature birds usually have the female attributes.

Individual birds or birds with hormonal imbalances or disease may not show sexual dimorphism.
In most cases behavioural characteristics cannot be used to accurately determine sex.
Sex determination is important in veterinary problems related to breeding, hormonal and gender specific diseases.
Blood DNA sexing is the only accurate way to determine any bird’s sex.

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