Female lovebird behaviour

[claudia]

I have two young lovies, about 6/7 months old.
One of them, a pallid called Maui sometimes walks around on her perch with her wings up in the air and occasionally sticks her bum up in the air too so I am pretty sure she is a girl :lol
The other one, a recessive pied called Leelo, lifted his/her wings up today and both Maui and Leelo were feeding each other. They have not mated, preen each other a fair bit but also fight quite a bit. THe fact that Leelo lifted his/her wings up today makes me think I might have two girls :roll: What behaviour does the male normally display during a mating ritual? I know these two are too young for any serious hanky panky :rotfl but that never stopped any of my other birds either (have had cockatiel siblings mating with each other >o)

[linda040899]

Given the fact that both Maui and Leelo are sex linked mutations makes it very likely that you could have 2 hens. Squabbling is another sign. Males do a clicky dance, while females present in the manner in which you are describing.

[claudia]

oh ouch, is rec. pied sex linked?? :( Yeah well Leelo's dad was the recessive pied, mum a normal green.....so Leelo would be a girl then sighhh
With Maui, both mum and dad were pallids

[claudia]

actually Linda, I was told yesterday by some Aussies that recessive pied is not sex linked but a recessive gene (not that that means too much to me >o )

[linda040899]

That's true. I was going by photo and the coloring doesn't always show up well on computer monitors. Lighting and flash can also have an effect. Even though Leelo's dad is a recessive pied, he can still carry a sex linked gene and you would never know it until he's bred. Maui's parents both being pallids gives the chance of a male pallid, but they will also produce hens.

I think the main thing I'm going by is the fighting. I've had a few male/female pairs that didn't get along but it's generally female/female pairs that squabble. There are also exceptions to that so DNA sexing is starting to sound pretty good right about now! :)

[claudia]

Thanks Linda and yes DNA sexing is definitely on the cards :lol

Then again, the last two days Leelo seems to want to climb on top of Maui's back but she wont let him :D so am still leaning towards boy unless females sometimes mount each other???

[linda040899]

so am still leaning towards boy unless females sometimes mount each other???
A pair of hens can mimic a male/female pair in every detail except producing fertile eggs! I have a couple of these kinds of pairs that engage in this behavior on a regular basis! :)

[claudia]

Lol

I don't mind keeping them both if they both do turn out to be hens, Leelo is a little cutie who now comes up to the wire when I talk to them.
I just don't want them to end up seriously hurting each other when they both get broody. Someone I know has offered to DNA them for me and she will come to me in the school holidays so should only be a few more weeks before I know what sexes they both are :)