Visually sexing young Senegals?

[Boshia]

How would you visually sex a young Senegal, around 5 months to a year? I heard something about the female having green mixed in with the red on their chests, I'm not sure though. Thanks!

[Kiwi08]

This might be sort of helpful: Visual Sexing of Senegal Parrots

However, its really impossible to visually determine the sex...or at least be 100% accurate. The only way to really know would be to do the feather or blood test.

[Boshia]

At what age do they become mature enough for me to use that method? Thanks for the link, by the way; I added it to my Favorites^^

[Kiwi08]

Well, probably around a year old... I think its really hard when they're young because they're getting in all their feathers and molting and everything is changing a lot.

[ThreeX]

Originally Posted by Boshia

At what age do they become mature enough for me to use that method? Thanks for the link, by the way; I added it to my Favorites^^

IMO - never.. I have Senegal breeder friends who can't determine the birds sex accurately. The most skillful of them is a woman who goes more on behaviour nuances than anything else :)
There's no way around blood sample DNA-test IMO (feather test sucks because of unnecessary pain and trauma for the bird an unreliable results compared to a wee drop of blod from a toe that hardly make the bird flinch.)

[Boshia]

Thanks for all your opinions and help, it's greatly appreciated.

Senegal Parrot - Birds - Lycos Classifieds

I just saw that Sennie, do you think that cage is a good size for her? She'll be out four hours a day, though.

[Poicephalus girl]

So that picture is for the Senegal you're interested in?

Honestly, the cage looks flimsy and I'm not the biggest fan; the doors are definitively not the greatest and from what I can see, it looks like there are spots where a toe could snag, but I could be wrong. I guess it might be ok for a little while until you could get something better. It does need better perches (variety; different types of wood, rope of different diameter) and some more toys (definitively more shreddables, it seems like it has a lot of acrylic toys).

[Boshia]

I'll get some perches as soon as I can from the store; I can also make her some perches for now from wood. I'm also wondering if she may be feather plucking? There seems to be a white spot from the picture on her chest, I'm really not sure though. What is it about the door that's bad? I'm always open to suggestions of better cages; the bigger the better, right? The Senegal is around four and a half months old, and "very tame and quiet." I'll be paying 250.00 for the toys, cage, Senegal, food, and a box of Millet.

Thanks,
Mary

[Poicephalus girl]

Although I could be mistaking, they look like doors that you must lift in order to open...not the safest doors.
The white fluff might be because she's in the middle of a molt or just that the feathers were moved when those pictures were taken...it's rather hard to evaluate if it's feather picking, since it's just one tiny spot and the pictures were taken all at the same time.

[Boshia]

Okay, thanks for the info. I'll call them again soon. Thanks,
Mary