FINCHforum

I have two but I can't tell whether they are male or female. Are there any major signs that distinguish the sexes? Both chirp every now and then, one has some white on it's forehead. They look pretty similar to me otherwise.

The one with white on its head seems to have issues with flying, it prefers to climb the cage walls and also seems to fly backwards or straight up. I think it has balancing issues but i've had it for months now and it's healthy and eats well. The other one is completely normal. If I ever find more I will get the normal one a mate once I figure out whether it's a male or female. The two currently hang out together but I dont think that they're bonded .

Thanks for the help ;)

I don't have this type of finch but it may be of help if you can post pics of your two...?

I have a pair of red face parrot finches. I was told they are male/female, but I cannot tell the difference in them at all.

These birds need alot of flying space. How large is their cage?

This could be one reason the "not normal" one is flying crazy in there.

The cage is 6' longx 6' tall x 2' wide so there's plenty of flying space. The one that can't fly normal seems pretty content, i'm not sure if it was like this when I got her. The place I got her had the birds in very poor condition in a very small cage. I'm guessing the bird either had some sort of neurological damage or it just never figured out how to fly correctly?

I will try to get a picture of them soon. Do either of yours have white on their face?

Red faced parrot finches look very much the same but you should be able to notice a difference in the sexes for the blue faced parrot finch. The males have stronger colouring with a slightly larger blue area - they make it difficult because they move around so much - bright sunshine also helps show up the colours

Sexing Blue Faced by the blue on the face alone can be a bit risky. A well coloured mature hen can show just as much blue as a poor coloured cock. Better off looking at the brightness of green in sunlight. They can also be sexed like canaries by blowing the feathers on the vent. Hen points down, cocks sticks out.

The blue face mask on the cock extends 3 to 5 mm further then the hen.The blue is also deeper and brighter then the hen.the hens mask can be quite dull.The green upperparts on the cock are quite bright and almost iridescent.The hen flatter.Best viewed in natural sunlight.The red rump on the cock is brighter.On the hen darker red.With closely marked ones I sometimes needle them.The males trill is prolonged.The females short.
With the flying issue I have seen it a bit in them.This may be cased by the cock if its the hen with these symptoms.As the cock has quite an aggressive sex drive, and will at times constantly chase the hen basically raping her. damaging the feathers quite a bit.For this reason the hens may need somewhere to hide.And it is not good to have more cocks then hens in the one aviary.Also i think this can be genetic,as some just never seem to come good,Although they may still breed.