What Have I got Here ??

[Viraba]

I'm interested in opinions here. These 2 birds were sold to me as a pair. This year they've both been nesting in 2 seperate boxes (in a colony avairy) with a total of 14 eggs. All have proven to infertile. I'm wondering whether I've got 2 females here.

This is the 'male'



This is the female.



What do you think ?

[hillcresttiels]

Its very hard to tell from the photos but they do seem to be a Male top and female bottom.The top photo shows the bird as a Cinnamon Pearl Pied with pearling almost moulted out. This could be that the bird is still young and hasn't lost all its Pearling or possibly because its a hen? My guess is young male.The bottom shows a Cinnamon hen.The other concern I would have is that these birds have similar characteristics and hopefully they are not related ie Brother/Sister hope to have helped!

Frank

[lovemytiels]

The only thing I will add here is that females can loose their pearling too. I have just gone through this with a lacewing bird here that whistles & talks & has lost all its pearling so we thought yep definitely a male. But low & behold its was backing it's rump up to its seed dish & making weird noises & rubbing itself against the seed dish like a female. Sure fooled me, but I checked under it's wings & there was all the wing bars. No wonder it was hassling my males birds inside & being an aggressive little B. It turned out to be a female, whereas the other lacewing I kept the sister from the same clutch has all its pearling & I know that is a female as she has been mating with another of my blokes. Birds can sure fool you at times . Cheers Anna

[Viraba]

Thanks Guys,
I estimate that these birds would be over 2 years old Frank. I've had them for over 12 months and they came to me as adults. Their antics also convinced me they were a pair.

I must admit I didn't think of a brother/ sister combination though. You're possibly correct but I have no way of finding out. Maybe I should split the pairing up and see. What would you recommend as partners for them ......assuming that they are male & female ?

viraba

[hillcresttiels]

With the male i would look for a nice Whiteface Pied hen as that pairing will give you a combination of pieds and a sexable clutch(any cinnamons will be hens).

With the hen a Whitefaced Cinn pied male with a lot of white then you will end up with a line of 1st cousins ( if the 2 cinnamons are bother/sister) that you pick the best from to breed with in the future! cheers

Frank

[Laraine]

Talking about siblings breeding, is it true that brother/sister, father/daughter etc. offsprings are always infertile?

[hillcresttiels]

No thats not true Laraine some of the best lines come from selective Line Breeding. Birds born from inbreeding with deformaties are highly likely to be infertile! but not the rule. Breeding 1st cousins is generally pretty safe

Frank