Male of Female????

[Jesse]

Hi All

I hope someone can help. My blue ringneck is now 1y7m and I still dont know whether its male of female. A few weeks ago I thought the ring was starting to get darker in the front, but now I just dont know if my imagination was playing tricks on me. Can someone tell me at what age the ring darkens if its a male and how long does it usually take for a "full" ring? I was told that females dont talk as well as males, if this is true it must be a male, my ringneck started whistling tunes after us at 3months and talking at 5months I got him/her at 2 weeks old and handreared myself.

Thanks

[Monica]

About 15 months to two years old is generally when they start to show signs of a ring. I've heard 18 months is a more general time for the ring to start to show. You can either wait till your ringneck is around 2 years old to be sure (some birds feather out late), or do a DNA test.

Males do, on a general basis, talk and mimic more than females, though females can talk and mimic just as good, and even sometimes better than males. It's said that it was a female budgie who made the first record of the most extensive vocabulary.

[Kathy]

Mine just turned 2 at the end of February

Like a male he hops, struts and mates with ballsduring the breeding season.
Like a female, she doesn't talk and there is no ring.

The pet store said it was a cock...but then they lied over so much!

I should have spent the money when i first got 'it' to see for sure.

Now it is a mute point, love Tawheed no matter what!

[AinSophaur]

There is no set age when the males start to get their rings. Mine has one pink feather on his neck. So his ring is just starting. He's about a year and 4 months old. My friends ringneck was about 2 when he got his ring. If he doesn't have a ring by two and a half years I would say its a female. It's really simple and not expensive to just get him dna checked if you really want to know.