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screeching cocaktiel, sexing cockatiel

Discussion in 'Birds - all breeds / types' started by Dito, Aug 15, 2006.

  1. Dito

    Dito New Member

    Hi, i have two questions and they are kinda related to one another,

    first I got an adult cockatiel (not sure of exact age but under age of two) three months ago and for the past few days he's been screeching in the morning (starts at about 5 am and continues to about 8-9 am) instead of his usual singing. He will stop if taken out of cage though he just sits on my camera tripod, wich he is doing right now along with a new song i never heard before (wich is new to him since he is not finger trained (tough I can get my hand within an inch of him now versus not being able to put it in his cage at all at first), mistreated by one of his previous owners (i'm his third one, poor guy) (was actually missing some primary flight feathers from being grabed and not from clipped wings) and he just started coming out on a wooden perch last week :D ) note: the screeching sounds like he is frustrated/annoyed and it is not the same one that he does when he wants fresh food/water/attention

    second, when I got him we assumed it was a female from the barred tail and his face being lightly mixed with some gray (he is a pied with dark tail feathers and light yellow primary flight feathers and the body is a mix of grey and light yellow, orange cheek patches, light yellow head, mixed with gray and bright yellow crest) but 2 weeks after we got him he started this singing in the morning (now replaced by that screeching) he would have this particular chant then when we entered the room he would dance then open the top of his wings (heart shape) tap his beak on his perch while doing this chirp a few times bob his head up and down then start over. I was told that this is a male courting behavior (he will also do this at different intervals during the day, which he still does, just the morning one that has been replaced by the screeching). Could a female do this as well? And if not, could his screeching be due to sexual frustration? we do get looonnnng days here in the summer (I live in nothern British Columbia) and currently the days are about 18 hours long ( in june they are actually 23 hours long then in december they go down to 7 hours) and our appartment is south facing so we get sun from sunrise to sunset and when we are not home/in bed he is in a spare bedroom because I have 2 cats and altough they show no interest in the bird better not take any chances :wink:

    thanks in advance,

    Dito

    PS: an avian vet is difficult to see up here since the closest one is 1 hour drive away (very stressful for him)
     
  2. charmedagain

    charmedagain New Member

    Hi sounds to me like you have a typical attention seeking male cockatiel.
    Birds are very clever they are like children and once they master that a certain behaviour gets your attention they will do it all the more.

    so my advice is to ignore the negative and only allow him out of the cage when he is a little more settled.

    Only female cockatiels have the barring on the underside of there tail and the males have a solid colour.
    From what you are discribing you have a normal healthy male that is getting a little broody due to the warm weather, Plus the fact that he was neglected by his previous owners will not help matters when it comes to his behaviour.

    i would not worry bout him give him time and he will soon see things your way and start to calm down.

    Mike
     
  3. Dito

    Dito New Member

    hi again,

    at first I would agree with you that it is an attention cry. but we did ignore him for 3 hours this morning (you can only take so much of it that early) and he only does it at that time of the day and when I talked to him (after the three hours) trying to calm him he only screetched louder and seemed more annoyed than anything

    he does have a call (high pitched whistle that I respond to (kind of a where are you, I'm here thing) by whistling back and then going to see him (check for food and water cause it's also the same call that he does for fresh food or water) so he knows that he can get my attention another way (he loves whistling back and fort with me and when I whistle a tune he tries to sing a long, not good at it yet) so if something works why change it to something that doesn't?
     
  4. Chezza

    Chezza New Member

    It is hard to tell the s.ex of a cockatiel when they are a solid yellow, white.
    Iv got a solid yellow with orange cheek patches, and no barring on the tail at all that you can see with the naked eye, her cheek patches gave her away too, because they were "dull" in colour..
    Found out he was a she... :oops: :oops:
    Same with another girl iv got too..
     
  5. Dito

    Dito New Member

    tanks for the replies, I've spoken with an avian vet and he told me to cover the cage at night and keep the blinds closed in his room for longer periods and he should return to normal (and thank the lord he did) hehe

    also he is definitely a male and also younger than we estimated (youpie :D ) he was always dropping a few feathers here and there but right now he started REALLY molting, feathers everywhere :lol: and looking so miserable (poor guy) and the four tail feathers that he already replaced grew back a solid gray instead of barred
     

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