Sexing Lovebirds - On the Cheap

Last Updated on October 11, 2024 by Catherine Tobsing

About a quarter of all parrots are sexually dimorphic meaning you can tell the sex by the color or markings of the bird or parrot. Green Eclectus parrots are boys, red ones are girls (as a side note as recently as ten or fifteen years ago zoos were placing 2 red Eclectus together hoping for mating.)

Anyway, Indian Ringneck boys have rings (rings begin to appear at about 18 months of age, girl Ringneck Parakeets have no rings.

Typically to determine the sex of a parrot today, they can be surgically sexed by a veterinarian or more preferably, through DNA testing via a drop of blood sent to a lab.

female lovebirds make strips
male lovebirds make confetti

With Lovebirds, although unscientific, you can perform a simple test.

Throw a piece of newspaper into the birdcage, if the Lovebird makes confetti, it is a boy, if it makes long strips, like feathers, and possibly tries to tuck into its feathers, then it is a girl. If they are too young, it may not work.