How to Tell Gender of a Parakeet? (Male or Female)

Last Updated on March 22, 2023 by Lily Aldrin

Have you just bought yourself a new pet parakeet? Do you want to breed parakeets? Or, do you want to give your bird pet a name but not sure whether your parakeet is a male or female? Well, worry not. The process of knowing the gender of a parakeet is straightforward.

Parakeets are cute little friendly bird pets. If you have one, you might be curious to know whether it is a male or female before the naming process. Although determining the gender of a parakeet is possible through its genitals, but they are not easily visible, especially of a young parakeet. While, for adult parakeets, their genitals are generally covered by a layer of feathers.

So, what should you do to tell the gender of a parakeet?

How to Tell Parakeet’s Gender?

There are various methods that you can use to tell the gender of a parakeet, and some of them are more accurate than others. However, you have an adult parakeet that is non-pigmented or ambiguously pigmented, then more stressful methods like DNA or endoscopic sexing may be required.

You can take the following steps to determine your parakeet gender,

1. The Age of your Parakeet

It is hard to distinguish between male and female parakeets if they are young (under one year of age). However, the feathers of both genders become more distinct as they grow—one way to tell how old your parakeet is to check its eyes. Young parakeets generally have deep black eyes until four months of age.

Once they are eight months old, the irises become dark gray or brown. And, turning one year of age, the irises become light gray or brown. It is what a parakeet’s aging process is.

2. The Color of Your Parakeet Cere

You can also check the cere of your parakeet to determine its gender. Generally, the male parakeets have cere that is either purplish-blue, pink, or blue. At the same time, the female parakeet cere is either light tan, white, or light blue .

3. The Color of Your Parakeet Feet

It is easy to determine the age of your parakeet, especially if it is one year old, by analyzing its legs and feet. Adult male parakeets older than one year usually have bright blue color legs resembling to their cere. At the same time, female parakeets over the age of one year have pink or brown legs.

4. Head and Body of your Parakeet

External appearances and physical structure differences between male and female parakeets closely relates to sexual dimorphism. Mature and healthy male parakeets have bigger size and more weight than female parakeets .

Male parakeets also have a larger physical structure and are stronger than female parakeets. Pairing them side by side, the parakeet gender with a larger head is male. Moreover, male parakeets often have more vibrant color feathers than female parakeets.

5. The Noise Level

Parakeets are among the loudest pet birds in the parrot family. Happy parakeets usually sing, talk, or mimic sounds they hear. Male parakeets are significantly noisier than female parakeets. Moreover, male parakeets also love singing songs or chirping for longer periods. While female parakeets also make noise but it usually sounds less musical and angry. If your parakeet makes a chattering noise, it is likely a male parakeet.

However, keep in mind that parakeet’s behavior is not the only factor to take into consideration when determining its gender because both male and female parakeets can have the same behavior.

4. The Behavior of your Parakeet

Parakeets can communicate with humans or other birds in many ways. If you are a new parakeet owner, the communication tactics of your feather friend can be confusing. If you can properly read your parakeet behavior, it will be easy for you to put it in the right gender chart. Male parakeet tap his beak against the cage or pop his head up and down. At the same time, the female parakeet’s appearance may be more aggressive and bossy.

5. Identify your Parakeet Gender through its Color

The most critical thing when you want to know your parakeet’s gender is its appearance. Telling whether your feathered friend is a male or female can be hard, especially if your bird pet is under the age of one year.

Sexual dimorphism usually refers to the size, external appearance, and physical structure that can be found in both sexes. Identifying your parakeet’s gender through its appearance means you have to identify the physical differences of your parakeet.

Although identifying your parakeet gender through its appearance is the easiest way, but it may not be the precise one. Also, do bear in mind that the feather coloration alone is not the only thing to determine the gender of a parakeet. Usually, the male parakeet’s feathers are blue in color, while the female parakeet’s feathers can be green.

6. Identify Your Parakeet Gender through DNA

Using the DNA method to determine the gender of a parakeet is the most preferred method for those who want to breed parakeets. This method also includes obtaining eggshell or feather samples to determine the gender of a parakeet. This DNA testing kit is my recommendation. You can buy this DNA kit from Amazon. 

Your parakeet’s DNA samples also feature nucleated cells, meaning the blueprint of your parakeet’s DNA is already there. The DNA cells of your parakeet then extracted, amplified, and combined at a laboratory with DNA markers to detect whether the sample contains ZZ chromosomes or ZW chromosomes.

If the samples have ZZ chromosomes, it means your parakeet is male, and if they include ZW chromosomes, your parakeet is female. After that, the DNA results are then sent back to the bird’s owner. If you want to determine your parakeet gender through the DNA method, ensure that the feathers, eggshells, and blood are performed with extreme care.

Feather sexing: Feather sexing, unlike blood sexing, is safer and less stressful. However, you should know that instead of using fallen feathers, it requires freshly plucked feathers.

Eggshell Sexing: Eggshell sexting is far less stressful than both blood and feather sexting.

7. Identify your Parakeet Gender through Surgical Sexing (Endoscopic)

Another way that is used to tell the gender of a parakeet is endoscopic or surgical sexing. In this method, your bird pet is placed under the anesthetic to insert an endoscope through the abdominal air sacs and the skin of your parakeet.

An endoscope contains fiber-optic imaging to visualize the internal organ structure of a bird. While the air sacs are large air chambers with thin, transparent walls. The endoscope visualizes the entire organ structure of your parakeet, including the reproductive organs of your pet.

If you are agreed to place your parakeet under an endoscope, the veterinarian can easily tell the gender of your parakeet. This method is incredibly accurate and fast handled by a professional veterinarian. Moreover, the endoscopic method also enables you to discover any other health issues of your bird pet.

However, you should also do bear in mind that unlike the DNA method, endoscopic sexing is more expensive and riskier to your parakeet health. These health risks include internal organ trauma, rib fracture, air sac infection, internal abdominal cavity infection, hemorrhage, etc.

Conclusion

So, these are some ways that you can use to tell the gender of your parakeet. You can also ask the dealer or breeder about the parakeet gender. However, keep in mind that not all breeders or dealers are informed. Moreover, you can also buy DNA kits to determine your parakeet gender or ask a veterinarian to reveal your parakeet gender.

FAQs

What is the safest and less stressful way to reveal your parakeet gender?

Though, you can reveal your parakeet gender through various methods, such as endoscopic sexing, blood sexing, or feather sexing. But the most preferred and far less stressful way is eggshell sexing.

Is endoscopy is risky for my parakeet?

Though using the endoscopy method to determine a parakeet gender is the fastest and easiest way, it also has various disadvantages. It is more expensive and risky to your parakeet health and expensive.