male or female cockatiel

Question
QUESTION: I have a female cockatiel that I adore and she is amazing and loving. My little blue budgie and her keep doing the wild thing or at least go through the motions. I have now seperated them and purchased another cockateil that I was told was a male. Unfortunetely he is very insecure and won't come to me. I have to capture him with a small towel and put him on my shoulder and there he will stay. He bites and draws blood and it is difficult to get close to him. Well I'm not sure if he is a male as the two cockatiels don't show much affection to one another. He chirps only when I'm not in the room or when I take my female away from him, otherwise he is very quiet. Is there any other way of telling if he is a male? Oh, one of his feathers fell out and they had lines of different colours on them. Please advise, thanks Tracie

ANSWER: Hello Tracie and thank you for your post.
There are really only two ways of telling the sex of a cockatiel.  A DNA Test can be done at your local vet, and you'll get the results back in about a week.  The other way is to wait until the bird is two years old and see if it lays eggs (which I know is not what you want to hear).
Depending on the age of your new bird, if it sounds like it is clicking its beak, then it is probably a male (the beak clicking is a sign of contentment).  Another sign that it is a male is if he is whistling melodically, or trying to (practice).  The males are very boysterous about whistling.
Just because it is a male (if it is) doesn't guarantee that the two birds will accept each other as a mate.  Ther is still a good chance that they will rejet each other.
As far as taming him, put him into the room that you spend the most quet time in and talk to him in a calm, quiet voice.  Eat some food in front f him (with the cage door open so that he can come out if he wants to).  He will probably eventually get curious when you are telling him how yummy it is and want to try some.  Just keep working with him in this manner and he should tame down so that he will at least step up.

Good luck and God Bless.
Dianna

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Dianna,
Thank you for the information.Should I put him in a seperate cage from her? The cage, well I call it there home, their home is in the kitchen where I spend most of my time.I'm constantly feeding my female like that and he just obserbs.I have had him for 6 months and he is a larger bird, but I'm not sure of his age.My female I have had for 2 years and she has never laid an egg.I heard if they do lay and they are not breading then that means they are not being fed properly.Please advise.Should I also stop my budgie from spending time with my female? Also, both homes are beside one another and every now and then I put all 5 birds together. (3 budgies and 2 cockatiels)They do like spending time together in the big home.
Thank you Dianna for all of this information as I truly appreciate it.Everyone knows how much I love my birds!I idealy want babies of both breads.Oh, that reminds me,I do have a cockatiel nest, should I put it in their home to give then the hint!!!???
Thanks, Tracie

Answer
Hello again Tracie.
If the two are not fighting, then I wouldn't worry too much about seperating them right now.  Your female should strat laying eggs this year.
As far as what you've heard, that is wrong.  Females do NOT need a male to lay eggs. The males' job is to fertilize the eggs, so if she isn't breeding and she lays eggs, not to worry.
You can keep the budgie and the cockatiel cages next to each other.  It is good that they've bonded to each other.
Now, for your newest bird, you might want to take him into a seperate room altogether for training.  Being around the other birds will be very distracting for him and nothing will get accomplished, except for frustration for both of you.
You can use the nesting box (I am assuming that's what you mean by a Cockatiel nest), but your new bird really is too young to mate yet.  The female will probably go into the box and lay a clutch of eggs.

God Bless.
Dianna