Hi! I am new here and was confused on the gender of my recessive pied, Charley. I think she is a female, but for the time I have had her, her cere has not changed to a light or dark brown (breeding conditon). I have had her since she was 9 weeks old and she is 18 months now. I just wanted to make sure her gender is correct because I have been wanting to breed her with my normal green budgie, Shamrock. (I have researched breeding for a year now and have decided to try breeding since both birds are old enough.) I love this forum and have been reading it for awhile and decided to join. Any help is appreciated!

 

This is Shamrock, the male I would like to breed her with.

 

Charley, recessive pied hopefully hen.

 

Another angle

 

Another angle

 

P.S She chews a lot on my blinds, wood perhces, shredders, toys, anything! Typical female behavior as of what I have read.

From these pictures Charley looks like a male to me. If it was a female the cere would have well and truly changed colour by the age of 18 months.

 

Feathers.

I don't see links or pics ?

It looks female to me. But I would think by 18 months it should have turned brown or beige at least once.

okay I see it per my screen it looks whitish pink tan? Is that correct?

Shawna: See that's what I thought. I thought she (he) was a female, but since I have had her she has not come into breeding condition which is weird. They get fresh foods everyday and plenty of exercise.

 

Elly: Yes that is correct for the color, whitish, tan, pink color.

to me it looks female so I would say be patience some come into breeding condition later then others , are you certain of her age?

You have a Recessive Pied Skyblue Hen.

Edited April 4, 200718 yr by Daz

I have had her for a year so she is at least 1 year old. When I got her she was about 9 weeks old (hadn't had her first molt yet).

She is very pretty.

Thank you Daz. Your birds are gorgeous too!

Has the cere ever changed shade at all, or remained the same pinkish throughout the time you've had her/him? It is hard for me to tell whether the cere is female or washed out from the flash. It looks awfully smooth (male)...is there any way to get a closeup picture without the flash? (okay, so I'm jones'in for more pictures ) Has the cere always been smooth, or has it ever flaked off and become somewhat crusty looking?

I would say female. The cere is kinda crusty looking around the edge and is very white.

I thought the same Sailorwolf Ann have you got the new IE 7 with the zoom level? You can zoom to 400%. The cere to me looks crusty and tan.... But you know what my eyes are like...

My grey hen Rocky has one of those ceres that looks whitish blue and was like that for about two years before she ever went tan/brown.

She was suppose to be a boy.(Laughing out loud)

I think we need a better shot of the cere

 

If the bird is only around 12 months old, then I reserve a right of reply as that would be different... a few hens have not changed cere colours by then.

 

 

Feathers

Hi again! Thanks for the responses. I tried to get a closer picture of her cere. I zoomed in as far as I could with my camera. I wouldn't say that her cere is as smooth as a males would be. It has been a little crusty at the bottom, but never turned dark brown or a noticable tan color.

 

 

 

 

oh yes I totally agree female for comparison I post of Pretty and you can see the cere he is over a year here you can see the difference in the male recessive pied

 

WOW what a close up me looks FAT (Laughing out loud) but he wasn't

Edited April 4, 200718 yr by Elly

Thanks Elly for the reply! Pretty is gorgeous. I am really sorry for your loss.

thank you tommorrow will be 3 wks feels like yesterday he was a gorgeous boy as your female is beautiful. I really love the pied gene

I really love the pied gene too. I love those cute button eyes! And I know how it feels to lose a beloved pet. (((hugs))) :angel1: