Sexing Orange-cheek waxbills

[Rox]

I knew I had this photo somewhere and finally found it. This should help you lovezebs

Note that cheek patches are not always reliable and the color on their vent is a much more reliable way of sexing these birds

[lovezebs]

Rox

A BIG thank you Rox !

From my observations, I think that one of my now four cuties, is a boy (maybe ). If they'd only sit still long enough, and oblige me by bending over while facing away from me, I could be more certain, but alas they are not in a cooperative frame of mind most of the time, lol.

I'd even tried tossing meal worms into the flight to get them to er... look downward from the branches (the logic being, that I could then get a good look at their bottoms), but it became a feeding frenzy, and I gave up

Have you ever seen waxbills playing tug of war with worms? It was rather funny (not for the worm I'm sure) in a gruesome sort of way, blehhh.

[Spreckles]

Elana
There is an article on this at the Finch information site also. A stripe underneath shown in a photo. They are adorable. Hope you get babies.

Karen

[lovezebs]

Spreckles

Hope I get a clear view of their butts, lol.

[Spreckles]

Elena

Snap on a rubber glove. Maybe they will get the hint. High perches? Hee hee

[lovezebs]

Spreckles

I don't know about that....

When and if someone snaps on a pair of latex gloves, I go screaming into the night. ...

[Sheather]

When I had my two waxbills briefly (I do miss them and all the others... : ( ) the male very obviously had a brighter orange vent. He was the only one who sang and worked their nest, so I assume he was the male, at least... the other bird without the bright orange did neither behavior.

[lovezebs]

Sheather

Who can tell who's singing with all the cacophony of sound, lol. My house sounds like the jungle at sunrise.

These tiny guys just won't sit still, and if and when they do, they are facing forward, lol. Maybe I need a mirror on a long stick

I bet you miss all of your feathered family, I know I would if they were gone.

[Rox]

lovezebs

Elana, best way to sex them would be too catch them up and individually check and then ring each bird, making a note of the ring color and sex of the bird. It's a pain but do it once and then at least you know.

Since I decided to focus on OC's as my main waxbill species, I ended up purchasing different colored split rings which are numbered: 8 different colors and each color has 12 rings numbered 1-12. It's actually working out great for this seasons young, as the males start singing before they even have their adult colors. Now I just make a note of the ring number and color when I see a male singing away. It's definitely going to make my life easier to have some type of reference when I need to catch them all up at the end of the year

[lovezebs]

Rox

Catching them, would cause major upheaval, and possibly injuries, as everyone in the flight throws themselves against the bars.

At this stage, I am fairly certain, that I either have three females and one male, or four females.

I saw one lone OC at a Pet Shop yesterday. She had a completely white bottom, and one totally white feather among her tail feathers, so I assumed it was a female. Had it been a male, I might have been tempted to snap it up.