sexing my pied parakeet

Question
hi there i got a dominate pied, white/blue parakeet for Christmas and would like to get it a mate but because of the color variations im having trouble sexing it, i think it may be a female because it is quite, and light colored, please help if you can, the cere is light blue and i mean very light and kind of pink near the bottom, thanks for your help... :-]

Answer
Hi, Amanda,

I'm sorry I'm late answering your question.  I've been sick and in the hospital.

How old is this bird?  Pied keets are very difficult to sex.  Being light colored and quiet has nothing to do with the sex of the bird.  Males tend to be more vocal, but if there are no other birds, a male might not be as vocal as one would with other birds around.  The sex of this bird could go either way.  Putting other birds with this bird and watching his/her behavior around those birds is one way of trying to sex the bird.  Female's ceres are usually white/brown/tan/beige, but this bird could be a female because of its coloration.  You could have the bird DNA sexed to be sure...visit Zoogen or Avian Biotech Labs on the internet.  It costs about $20 and the testing kits are free.  You'd have to do the test yourself at home...very simple.

Chrys