sexing juvenille australian king parrots

[little_chrissy]

was away lookin at an austrailan king last nite and i am desperate for a male, the girl says the breeder was 99% sure its a male but as hes only 9mths u cannot tell yet by his plumage

his belly is red and seems to be spreading, but his beak was very dark which is characteristic of females, but i no the beak can lighten i just cant find out how long it takes,

the owner says he hasnt started his first moult yet, which i thought would have started around now?

can anyone shed any light?

its just that my wee male passed on, he was a rescue parrot and i got him wen he had the juvenille plumage, but back then i wasnt bothered about the sex, but now i am desperate for another male, they are just the most amazin birds

[poshweiller]

The adult males (4 years) are very striking in appearance with a red head, breast, and lower undersides, with a blue lower back, and green wings and tail. They have a reddish-orange upper beak with a black tip and a black lower beak, and yellow eye ring. Unpaired, younger males can been seen in medium sized groups. Females are similar in appearance except for a green head and breast, a black upper beak, and paler yellow eye ring. Juveniles of both sexes resemble the females. Adults of both sexes are very majestic birds, typically 42 cm (16 inches) in length including a long tail.
There is one subspecies, A.s. minor, which is found at the northern limit of its range, and is typically about 5 cm (2 inches) shorter than the nominate species but otherwise is similar in appearance



as far as i can make out the males have red heads and females have green??

[little_chrissy]

lol yea no all that!thanks anyway!

[Vase]

Cant you get im/her DNA sexed?

[little_chrissy]

yea iv been askin!!

[Vase]

There's a company you can send a blood feather to and they'll do it for you. Cant for the life of me remember their name though.

I know some vets do it so if you can find a decent avian vet your in business. When I got Calla she'd already been sexed and J.D, being a Ringneck is sexually dimorphic so I was sorted.

Wouldnt be too keen on pulling the feather myself and the parrot would probably hold it against you for a while.

[poshweiller]

Originally Posted by Vase

There's a company you can send a blood feather to and they'll do it for you. Cant for the life of me remember their name though.

I know some vets do it so if you can find a decent avian vet your in business. When I got Calla she'd already been sexed and J.D, being a Ringneck is sexually dimorphic so I was sorted.

Wouldnt be too keen on pulling the feather myself and the parrot would probably hold it against you for a while.

just got my african grey sexed by dna solutions,costs £13.you need to pluck tail or wing feathers and send them away.

[Vase]

Thats the kiddy!

[little_chrissy]

yea thanks guys