December 14, 2007
Male vs Female Quakers - Is There A Difference?
In my experience, I have not noticed any differences between male and female Quakers in personality, talking ability, train-ability, aggressiveness, intelligence or any other trait or skill. There are only a few responses to the question so far on the forum, but those who have responded up to this point agree with my own experience.
Now, I have to qualify this statement to say that this is true when Quakers are housed separately. When a male and female are kept in the same cage, all this can change. From what I understand, this is true of other types of parrot pairs as well. For a particular species, generally either the males or females become more aggressive when kept in pairs. For Quaker Parrots, it is the female that becomes more aggressive. But again, this is ONLY when they are kept in pairs. This extra assertiveness does not present itself when a female Quaker is caged by herself.
With one of my pairs, this female aggressiveness is particularly evident. The female will squawk and try to get a nip of me through the cage bars whenever I go near the cage. The male will actually push her out of the way and then squeeze his own beak through the cage bars. The only difference is that he is asking for kisses instead of wanting to rip my flesh apart. LOL!
So there you go. In case you were wondering if a male or female Quaker would make a better pet, I'd like to reassure you that males and females make equally wonderful companions. We have 5 females and 2 males in our household, and I wouldn't hesitate to add either a male or female to the flock if the inn wasn't already full here. ;-)
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7 Comments on Male vs Female Quakers - Is There A Difference? »
January 10, 2008
Doe @ 5:20 pm:
I currently have a Green Quaker "Kiwi" who is about 20 months old. In Oct. of'07 I acquired 2 babies, who were 5 months old at that time: one Blue Quaker "Berry" and a Cinnamon Quaker "Spice". I plan to eventually have them DNA sexed. The names "Kiwi" and "Spice" could apply to either sex but "Berry" sounds more masculine. Now you have me wondering because "Berry" and "Spice" are kept together as they came that way (same breeder, different clutches) and "Berry" is the aggressive one. He/she is always harrassing "Kiwi" when I'm home and have their doors open. I wonder if he is a female according to your info. He/she also seems to be the one who is starting to talk first. "Spice" goes with the wind. She/he hangs with "Berry" and joins in on his mischiefness but if I pick "Berry" up she will be friendly with "Kiwi".Do you have any suggestions how to get "Berry" and "Kiwi" to be friendly? Thanks . . . Doe
February 9, 2008
Criket @ 4:10 am:
Doe,
We have a female and a male QP. The female is more quiet. Our male is more talkitive and courious. I don't know any other way but DNA which was about $30 a bird at our local avian vet. Before we got the results we thought they were opposite of what the results where because of everything that we had read. Our female also seems to eat more than our male and is also heavier. Don't know if this helps but if you really want to know testing is the only way to find out for sure.
Criket
March 16, 2008
sheilla @ 2:02 pm:
cricket, is your female and male in the same cage.. thinking of getting another gp but i already have a male…did you get them the same time?? thanks for your input…….sheilla
May 14, 2008
Shannon @ 8:44 pm:
I have had a breeding pair of quakers and did notice that the male was the nicer one out of the two. He was even the one to talk and let us handle him. She on the otherhand would not let us get anywhere near her. I have also worked at a pet store handfeeding and working with these birds for about 4 years. I have never noticed any difference between male or female. =)
July 4, 2008
KIM @ 10:53 am:
PLEASE HELP!!!! I have a female Quacker she has lost all the feathers on her chest. I have no clue if she is plucking them or if there is something wrong with her. She is the only bird in the house and her cage is very large. Most of the time the door stays open. This is worrying me so much I love my little Talula very much and I just don't know what to do. Please help!!!
July 9, 2008
Oscar Roberts @ 1:34 pm:
What can you use to get Fleas out of carpet that is safe to use around birds. Quakers, Nandays, love birds, and grays. Thank You Oscar
July 15, 2008
sandy @ 11:17 pm:
I am looking for info in what states are illegal to own a quaker. and how to find out the legistics on can u buy a QP in a state thats legal and bring it as a pet to a state not legal?