Is he a SHE?

[Cassius]

Hello, everyone! I have a pair of Fischer lovebirds. They are in the same cage for some months. They get together well, the male feeds the female and they dodn't have fights. In general they look very happy together. A couple of weeks ago the female was doing the "airplane" position and I was told that she is ready to mate. The male didn't do any movement to mate. I bought a nest box, extra vitamins (although their diet was a good one) and drops in their water that arises their sexual instict. They both prepare the nest, picking up the nesting material that I placed at the bottom of the cage. Today I saw the "male" doing the "airplane" too, the female tried to get on him and he kicked her away. Then I realised that he might be a female. I observed that he spends much time in the nest box too, and not only during the nights...!
Besides these two facts, he acts like a male. He sits on the perch like male. Do you think that "he" might be a female? Or he just mimic the behaviour of the opposite sex, as I've been told that Fischer lovebirds often do ...?

[linda040899]

Hi and welcome to Lovebirds Plus Community!

Since you have Fischer's Lovebirds, you can actually get a clue to gender by looking at their eyes. Eye shape seems to be different between males and females, although this is not 100% accurate, it's better than pelvic sexing. Look just at eye shape (disregard the ring around the eyes). Males tend to have round eyes, while females tend to have almond shaped ones. When I go looking for breeders for my own aviary, that's what I look at. I would never guarantee gender based on this but it's worked for me.

Same sex pairs can mimic a true male/female pair with just a couple of exceptions. Male/male pairs won't produce eggs and I've not seen any of mine build nests, either. Female/female pairs will both build the nest and, if both of them lay eggs at the same time, you will get double the number of them!

[Cassius]

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1450457335832&set=a.1361807959653.52014.1065186628#!/photo.php?fbid=1450457335832&set=a.1361807959653.52014.1065186628&pid=1291404&id=1065186628
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/photo.php?fbid=1450457255830&set=a.1361807959653.52014.1065186628&pid=1291402&id=1065186628
It's the first time I hear something like that about the eye of Fischers. Here's a foto of my Cassius. Can you tell it is a HE by the eye?

[linda040899]

Hi Cassius,
If you tried to upload a picture from your computer desktop, that function is disabled in this community. If you could upload the photo to online storage such as Photobucket and post the location URL here, we will be able to see your lovebird.

Do the eyes look round or almond shaped to you?

[personatus]

If they are coming into breeding condition, the pelvic bones would give a better indication than they normally would. Sounds like 2 females to me.

I sex all my birds based on build and body shape. The shape of the head gives a good clue, this is probably what alters the shape of the eyes aswell. Females tend to have a flatter head with less neck, the males are more round headed with more neck. Saying that, I do have various birds who go totally against what I just said lol.

[Cassius]

Thank you all for your opinions. Well, today the scene was totally different. Cassius kept away from the nest box, he just helped the female with the nesting material and I saw him mating with the female and having obviously the role of a male. All your descriptions make me think that Cassius is a male, indeed. We will see in a few days. I let you know! Once more, THANK YOU!!!! :)

[linda040899]

Glad we could help! Keep in mind, should your hen begin to lay eggs, all that tells you is that one of your pair is a hen. You can't say the other bird is a male unless you find fertile eggs in the nest.

We'll be keeping our fingers crossed for you. Please let us know what's going on! :)

[Cassius]

Unfortunately, Cassius and Peachy still don't have eggs and I saw the female "mating" the male yesterday and I'm confused...!

[personatus]

sounds like 2 hens. how old are they?

[Cassius]

The "male" is a year and a half and the female is one year old. It's the first time for both of them that they mate!!