How do i tell the difference between male and female cockatiels?

Question

How do i tell the difference between male and female cockatiels?

Answer 1

The easy answer (for the standard gray variety and adults over 7 months old) is that males have a lot of bright yellow on their face and females have mostly gray with a dull orange spot.

You can also tell by the underside of the tail feathers (again, adult birds that have molted around 7-8 months...all babies look like females).  Males have solid yellow or gray colored feathers, and females have barring (yellow stripes on a gray feather usually).

Some color varieties are different, like white faces (which of course don't have any yellow or orange), and pearls (adult males lose the pearl coloration...any adult that still looks like a pearl is a female).

Adult males are also louder.  They whistle, talk, drum their beak, and otherwise make a lot of noise.

Another way to tell, and the best indication for babies less than 7 months, is the width of their pelvis.  You can feel the pelvic bones on the underside between their legs.  A female's pelvis will be about the width of your finger (for egg laying), while a male's pelvis will be narrow, about 1/2 the width.

Answer 2

Males have bright faces;Female's faces are all gray.

Answer 3

you have to wait till them get a little older if they are babies.  i always thought that to tell the difference look at their faces.  males have brighter face - yellow is brighter and so are their orange cheeks .  females face colors are duller and they have spots under their wing feathers.