Why can’t I just look and
tell if I have a male or female pet bird?
Many birds are not what is known as sexually dimorphic.
This means that the characteristics of the birds are so similar
that you cannot tell the difference in sexing the birds without scientific intervention. The most frequently-used procedure
to determine a male vs female pet bird is through DNA testing.

​

Why do I need to know if my bird is male or female?
Aside from the obvious of wanting to know if your pet bird is male
or female for personal reasons, DNA testing your bird is used as an aid to better care for your pet bird. Some diseases, along with egg binding, are unique to specific sexes of birds.

Knowing the gender of a sick bird in advance helps guide your veterinarian in narrowing down diagnosis in moments of medical concern. Often, when a medical concern is happening, time is of
the essence. Knowing your bird’s sex through DNA testing ahead
of time may allow your veterinarian to make quicker maneuvers
in diagnosis, in a time of need when time is critical. The last thing
you want to be doing in an emergency is ruling out whether your
pet bird is a male or female. Those instances often are critical,
and knowing this information is truly valuable.
 

How can having a DNA test done on my female pet bird help prevent egg binding? 
Knowing if you have a female pet bird can help you to administer the best foods and products for your pet birds. For example, female pet birds utilize a great deal of calcium to produce an egg. The aid of supplements and calcium can greatly improve your bird’s health while she goes through this.

​​

How does this help with breeding birds?
If you plan to have your pet bird become part of a mating pair, it is essential to verify the sex of each bird in the pair. Any breeder in the country can give you a list of stories where they purchased birds that were said to be a pair and were in fact, two birds of the same sex- often wondering why their birds were producing countless amounts of infertile eggs. Experienced breeders will all tell you
DNA sexing a pair of birds is the first step to success!