Male-Female?

[Raindroponthrose]

I am reading here about certain things that male lovies are doing and things that usually only females are doing..but I cannot put any of my lovies in either category according to those 'things' :)
They do not shread papers,try to make nests,they are not really teritorial much,they do not show any mating things..Is there a certain time of the year for that or either they do it or they don't?

[michael]

Oh ...well for those "certain things" to present themselves, usually spring is a good time. .. Then again, when it comes to lovebird male/female "vitality", nothing is really set in stone. .. Exactly how old are your lovebirds? Although a more accurate distinction between males and females would likely be their rather uninhibited positions for mating, shredding paper, nest building, and territoriality, are generally viewed as being mostly female in nature, though there are, at least to some extent, instances where males will dutifully take on these same roles as their female counterpart. .. Just not as articulate. .. The exception? ...Eggs.

How long have you been waiting for these "certain things" to show up? ... You know, it could be that both your birds are .............:)

[Pips mom]

Both of my boys are big time humpers! and it doesn't seem to matter too much what time of year it is! I do notice more humping at times and less at other times, but with Pip, he is obsessed with it and all I have to do is move Ivy's swing and he runs right over to see what I'm doing because heaven forbid I take away his humpy thing! I can take the swing out and hold it and he'll hop right over onto it and hump it while I'm holding it, and he even wears his feathers underneath sometimes so they look ratty from all the humping. Rudy doesn't hump unless he has something soft and I'd give him that if he didn't regurgitate all over it.....gross! Both do the male clickey dance where they appear to dance around and make these clicking noises.....Pip does it really loud sometimes! Also Pip has tried numerous times to get on top of Ivy while he's doing this clickey dance! Pip has humped like this from day one that I got him and even his previous owner said he was like this with him too at before nine months of age, which is the age that I got him at.
How long have you had your lovies? Trying to figure out their sex from behavior really takes time and over time I think you get to know them well enough to make a pretty good guess. Look for any changes in temperament .....with Pip, I always know what to expect from him and he's always the same.....with females they tend to change when they get hormonal and can get mean, and bitey.

[Chickobee]

The surest way to determine the sex of your birds is to DNA test them. You can order test kits online and then either clip a toenail to obtain a blood sample or pull a few chest feathers for a feather sample. The blood sample is less likely to give an accurate result because there is less liklihood of contamination of the sample.

How old are your birds? How did the breeder determine that one was a male? Did you receive the DNA testing certificate, or is he a sex linked male?

Some breeders are not very ethical and will tell you what you want to hear in order to make a sale. Behavior alone is not an accurate method--unless you get fertile eggs from a pair.

Hopefully you have TWO MALES so babies from two different lovebird species or the incompatibility of two hens will not be an issue for you.

[Raindroponthrose]

Oh ...well for those "certain things" to present themselves, usually spring is a good time. .. Then again, when it comes to lovebird male/female "vitality", nothing is really set in stone. .. Exactly how old are your lovebirds? Although a more accurate distinction between males and females would likely be their rather uninhibited positions for mating, shredding paper, nest building, and territoriality, are generally viewed as being mostly female in nature, though there are, at least to some extent, instances where males will dutifully take on these same roles as their female counterpart. .. Just not as articulate. .. The exception? ...Eggs.

How long have you been waiting for these "certain things" to show up? ... You know, it could be that both your birds are .............:)

well,male is 7 mos and 'female' is 'don't know' but over a yr or maybe more for sure...Well I do not wait for certain things but...was just interested.And I have them for 2 mos now :) Maybe they are both guys,hahahahah

[michael]

........ Maybe they are both guys,hahahahah

I was thinking the same thing. ...:).... Could be though, that a couple more months need pass before the youngers adult tendencies kick in. ... Perhaps then, either one or the other may exhibit behavior a bit more relative to their gender. .. If need be though, you can always resort to having them DNA sexed through Avianbiotech. .. Should you find surprize eggs, sometimes its nice to know the chances of them becoming fertile. .. Other times, its just nice to know who's more or less likely to lay them....ahead of time. ... Keep us posted on your gender benders!

[Raindroponthrose]

I was thinking the same thing. ...:).... Could be though, that a couple more months need pass before the youngers adult tendencies kick in. ... Perhaps then, either one or the other may exhibit behavior a bit more relative to their gender. .. If need be though, you can always resort to having them DNA sexed through Avianbiotech. .. Should you find surprize eggs, sometimes its nice to know the chances of them becoming fertile. .. Other times, its just nice to know who's more or less likely to lay them....ahead of time. ... Keep us posted on your gender benders!

I've noticed twice,how 7 mos old is running in circle around 'female' and making 'ticking' noise and just recently I saw him doing same with bird toy(plastic one) but not more than that :))) And 'her' nothing like that at all...

[Chickobee]

Running in circles, making clicky noises, and head scratching are all parts of the "clicky dance" a male lovie does to impress a mate. I haven't seen hens do the clicky dance, but birds of the same sex will mount each other.

It sounds like you have at least one frisky bird. :rofl:

[Raindroponthrose]

Yes,obviously but this happened only twice.Now female(or 'female') didn't pay much attention to clicky dance,neither 'she'has ever done it.Or maybe because 'she' is always in the cage...and male is free...