i read on quaker online that you can visually (sp?) tell the sex of a quaker by looking at its forhead.is this true?

Yes and No. It has been researched and tested on many QP's and does appear to be pretty accurate. It is better to have a DNA sexing done, which is usually more accurate.

I agree with Casey's Mom. If you want to know for SURE then have the testing done. However, I do think there is something to the forehead theory! My male and female follow the pattern. Blue, the male, has what I think looks like a crown or a mane when he fluffs up. He and Wasabi have a very different look.

i just wanted a semi accurate way to tell the sex of a quaker.

I've had both my QP's DNA sexed, I hadn't heard this theory befor but I went to check and it applies to both my QP's.

I had two people tell me (both Quaker breeders) that Max was a male due to this theory. Well, DNA testing proved them both wrong.

To me, there is no point in using this theory because it isn't accurate. You've got a 50/50 shot at guessing the correct sex.

If you want to know, do the DNA test.

I was told that you can feel their pelvic bone to tell whether they are male and female. And so far its been right with mine but I don't know if its a forsure thing just telling from my experience. My female QP's pelvic bone is about a thumb apart where eggs can pass thru and my male is close together with little or no gap. Anyone else here of this????

Yep...and again, my QP failed that test You can't do this with baby birds because their bones are still growing and changing. Plus, it can be mighty dangerous to the QP especially if you don't know what you're doing. So I wouldn't advise forum members to start feeling out their birds

mine pass the forehead test, but not the pelvic test...and Cosmo (who fails the pelvic test) is almost 4, so no baby bird part there! but i'm only feeling lightly, and not positive i'm doing it right, either..

Once again...Both visual/tactile methods are only 50/50 in being correct. If you want to believe these methods...you might as well try the "hanging magnet" theory too where you hang a magnet by a string over the bird or animal or human...if it rotates clockwise its female if it rotates counterclockwise it male...Or is that the opposite way around?

There are only 2 proven methods of accurately determining sex and those are surgically and by DNA sampling. of which the latter is only about 98.8 % accurate the last time I heard.

In the picture examples shown there if you look at the angles of the two birds heads the head angle itself is totally different In my opinion its like comparing apples to oranges. If they had both birds with their heads in the exact same position, I might be more inclined to go along with the theory. BUT a lot can be skewed by the angle at which the photo was taken.

i see what your saying because in each picture the bird is in a different angle.

[size=4] cool! if this is the case , squirt is a boy & sqeak is a girl as predicted by the breeder
( squeak is on the r/h/s in my avatar photo).
the breeder believes in the swinging a wooden peg on a piece of cotton over their underneath section ,if it sways from head to tow it's a boy but if it sways in a circular motion it's a girl. i still think this is mumbo jumbo voodoo hoodoo , but hey who knows , maybe he's onto something

Yah i think there are many ways to tell the sex. They aere not all accurate but if you try them all then you know. Gizmo passes the forehead. Maybe females are a little bit more slanted than males but not as much as they are showing.

Meh.. I've been made a fool of by various "sexing techniques" on a few occasions. I'm only ever going to trust DNA or surgical testing.

My favourite sexing myth has to do with Canaries. "The first baby to jump out of the nest will be male." I ended up with a hen from a breeder that used that method. Of course she didn't tell me that was her method until after I complained that the male she sent me was laying eggs.

The best way to tell is get a male and a female mealworm. A male parrot will pick up the female mealworm and the female parrot will pick up the male mealworm.

Thats funny, qp dad does that really work?

I had Buttons DNA sexed but the breeder I rescued her through said she knew she was female by looking at her when her first parronts turned her in for adoption. Then again, someone on here just had her "he" lay an egg. So although the DNA sexing is fairly accurate, I guess the question really is "egg or not to egg". I think surgical determination is expensive isn't it? Not sure there.

It costs 20 dollars at most places im pretty sure.

This post was interesting to me...
is it imperative to know the sex of a Quaker bird? I mean, for the well being and care of one bird? Does a male require nutrients or supplements or things that a female does not need?
My vet said the DNA sex test costs $50.00 inmy area ... and if the knowledge is not needed for the care of the bird ~ then no big deal for me. I call him HIM out of habit from owning an male dog years ago.
Just curious......Von51

The only reason I can see for doing it for a pet bird would be so you would know to look out for egg binding. But I don't think that's really even necessary.

Nope. Not necessary... but it's fun to know.