Choosing Birds As Pets : Section 1

DETERMINING THE SEX OF BIRDS

Telling what sex an individual bird is, can be very easy or very difficult depending on the type of bird, its age and our knowledge and awareness! It may be stating the obvious, but birds of a given species don't seem to have any trouble telling who's who ... or do they? In fact, at least in captive birds, sexual encounters, be they brief and fleeting or be they long term relationships, between birds of the same sex, are quite common. Some will even take turns in "role play".

The true explanations for such behaviour probably require further investigation and elucidation. Be that as it may, we can conclude that behaviour alone is not a reliable indicator of the sex of captive birds. However it can be highly suggestive!

In many species of birds there are marked differences in the plumage of adult males and females. The difference is often just in the colour of the feathers, e.g. Eclectus parrots and King parrots. Such differences are usually far less obvious in immature birds. Othertimes there are differences in the size or shape of feathers. Sometimes there are differences in the shape of feathers. For example male ducks grow "kiss curl" feathers on their rumps. Sometimes there are differences in the patterns of barring on the feathers e.g. wild form of quarions. Sometimes there are differences in all of these. Consider peafowl as an example.

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