Usually, a bird’s gender is unknown to other species of beings; it is a well kept secret for the bird itself and its kind. When nature created the birds, it never took into consideration the human specie and the knowledge that this last one needs.

In some birds, the gender can be identified by the individual’s colors, wither completely, or, in some cases, only when they reach maturity. The eclectus male for instance is green, while the female is red. At maturity, the nasal area (cere) of a parakeet male is blue and the female’s one is brow. However, there are still many species of birds that don’t have different colors depending on the gender.

The importance of knowing a pet’s gender is represented by their owners’ desire to give them proper names or to know what pronouns to use when they are addressing or referring to the animals. It also matters for the breeding of the animals because some people know not to expect babies from a pair of birds of the same sex.

Many methods were discovered so far to determine the birds’ gender, some of them scientific and some of them, most of them, non – scientific, discovered by common people in their own houses. We will show and overview of the scientific methods of discovering the birds’ sex: DNA Sexing, Surgical Sexing, Blood Feather Testing and Fecal Analysis.

Every method of testing has both negative and positive sides and the best one is the one that fits the owner’s needs and the situation.

The DNA Sexing method:

In this procedure, a drop of the bird’s blood is required for a DNA testing. The DNA will show an image that will provide reliable information about the bird’s gender. This method is very accurate but it takes up to four weeks to be processed.

The blood is collected from a vein or a toenail by the owner and placed in a prepared collection of vial. This way it can be sent to a lab even by using regular mail. This method is very easy to be performed and it is not stressful.

A bird’s DNA is unique and cannot be modified. So, as in human DNA, a bird’s one is the same since the moment of birth until death. Those tests performed on birds DNA can also be stored by the labs that own a data bank and can be later used for identification or matching.

This method is thus, very easy to be done, it is not expensive and if the period of waiting for the results is not a problem, it may be the best choice. This DNA test will show a bird’s gender and not its capability of reproducing.

The surgical sexing method:

The second method of discovering a bird’s gender is the surgical sexing. This can be done only by a veterinarian, through endoscopic surgery. The bird is put under anesthesia and through a small cut in the bird’s skin, the veterinarian inserts a small metal tube with a light attached on, called the endoscope. This way, the bird’s sexual organs can be seen and, along with the gender, the veterinarian can determine the sexual maturity, any abnormalities and the possibility of reproduction.

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