Male or Female

[gouldian_finch]

Here is one of bird I bought last month. it is a young yellow back, I was told it is a male. However I suspect it is a female.
I have two questions

1) you can notice the lilac colour on its chest is not fully covered yet, is it because it is too young, not fully molted yet? or something else?

2) I know some male can have lilac chest, but I saw my other males dancing around this yellow back, does that mean it is a girl?

many thanks[album][/album]

[lovezebs]

gouldian_finch

Do you know how old this youngster is?

Reminds me of my little Spirit when she was young. Posting some picts of her.

[debbie276]

Here is one of bird I bought last month. it is a young yellow back, I was told it is a male. However I suspect it is a female.
I have two questions

1) you can notice the lilac colour on its chest is not fully covered yet, is it because it is too young, not fully molted yet? or something else?

2) I know some male can have lilac chest, but I saw my other males dancing around this yellow back, does that mean it is a girl?

I also would think hen. The belly looks much lighter then a males and it does look like the breast will molt into the color of a PB hen. Can't see the tailwires but if they are not long it would also lean towards a hen.
1)The bird may be stuck in molt which can happen from stress and a drastic change in environment, which being sold could do. Should molt out fully next time it molts, could take a year.
2)Males will dance around and at anything. I would not take that as an indication the bird is a hen.

good luck

[gouldian_finch]

I only know it is 2016 bird, not sure when it was born. it looks very young, as the colour of its back is very light yellow, much lighter than my other yellow hen.

as for the chest colour, it is light lilac, I know normal lilac chest bird is hen, compared to purple colour of cock bird. but sometimes, there are lilac chest male, thus I am not sure it is a hen, esp. the seller told me it is a cock bird

[Chrismurdoch3]

Have you watched it to se if maybe it has sung? Most all of my baby males have started to sing before they have molted out. I agree with debbie males will sing to anything and my males are always showing off to each other by singing so i wouldn't make any decisions off of them singing to him/her. You might have to wait until it molts out more to know for sure. Yellow backs can be tricky sometimes when first molting into their adult colors to know if they are males/females or not

[lovezebs]

gouldian_finch

I was told by the breeder that Spirit was a male as well

Well, you'll know soon enough once it molts.
What does the tail look like?

[gouldian_finch]

its tail is quite short, esp compared to those males, I am not sure it will grow or just stay like that

[Gouldianbreeder]

It looks like a hen. You really shouldn't buy unmoulted Gouldians they have a tendency to drop dead due to the stress of being moved and moulting at the same time. I always end up with an odd bird that gets stuck in the moult simply because I had to move it from one cage to another.
I can't believe anyone would sell you an unmoulted bird but I guess some people just don't care about their birds.

[lovezebs]

gouldian_finch

How is your little one coming along? Any new feathers, or colours coming through?

I agree with gouldianbreeder about buying unmolted birds.
Unless you are quite experienced with Gouldi's, I would stick to feathered, moulted birds. Then you can tell the colour, the gender, the feather condition. etc.

A good breeder, would not sell unmoulted juvies.

P.S. I will admit to having bought unmoulted birds myself. The first one got stuck in molt for months and almost died on me. The others, I had more experience at the time, and knew how to deal with them when I got them home.

That said, better safe than sorry.

[gouldian_finch]

No, he or she still look same, other than that, it act normal, flying, eating..

[Gouldianbreeder]

It's probably stuck in the moult. If so it won't moult out until it's first adult moult at over a year old. You can still breed from it without any problem.

[lovezebs]

gouldian_finch Gouldianbreeder


I would not ever breed a bird that has not fully molted, and I would never NEVER breed a bird stuck in molt.

That's really asking for trouble.

[debbie276]

gouldian_finch Gouldianbreeder


I would not ever breed a bird that has not fully molted, and I would never NEVER breed a bird stuck in molt.

That's really asking for trouble.

Absolutely agree with Elana

[Gouldianbreeder]

Once a Bird is stuck in the moult it has effectively finished moulting and ceases to experience the stress related with the modulating process. It will stay in this half moulted state for the next 12 months so at the start of the next breeding season it is perfectly fine to breed from. I have 2 such birds raising chicks in my birdroom at the moment. These birds will next go through an adult moult at the end of the breeding season and achieve their full colours.
Why would you not breed from such a Bird?

[lovezebs]

Gouldianbreeder gouldian_finch

@Gouldianbreeder

That hasn't been my experience.

When I've had birds stuck in molt, they are far from what I would call being in prime breeding condition.

I never breed a bird that is not in peak condition.
I have always found, that laying clutches and rearing youngsters takes a lot out of my birds, and my birds are more important to me than the clutches I can get out of them.
Although I enjoy breeding my birds occasionally, I never take chances with them.

Plus, this bird is a 2016 chick, so for all we know, it could be a half grown juvie who hasn't finished molting into adult colours yet.


gouldian_finch

Could you by any chance snap some more recent pictures of this bird (preferably close up shots ) and post them on here?

Oh, and personally I would not attempt to breed this bird until it's in prime condition, and fefinitely older.

Good luck