My grandmother gave me her white-faced grey cockatiel. They did have another cockie in with 'him' but that bird harassed him and was a total control freak with 'him'. Freddy (my cockatiel) is now all alone, because the other cockatiel they have is staying with my Gram. I would like to get 'him' a mate, another white-faced grey, but I'm not sure how to sex them. I'm not even sure if Freddy is a boy or not. Is there a reliable way to externally sex them? If not, how much is it to get a vet or breeder to internally sex the birds? Thanks for any input!

Rat do you have a picture of him??

Here are a couple of pictures I have of my whitefaces.
This one is of a whiteface grey male. I don't have any pictures of a whitefaced grey hen.

That's basically what Freddy looks like Dals. Except, 'his' face is a purer white. I don't have any pictures of him right now, because my camera space is limited because it's full of evidence photos.

Ok, well if he looks like my boy then you definatly have a male. The "solid" colors are pretty easy to sex as adults. And MP is right they do mate like rats or bunnys. And they tend to loose their friendlyness if they have a mate.

Freddy isn't the most friendliest bird out there as it is. I was just told that they were flock birds and that they should have another bird around them. Maybe get another one in a cage beside him? Also, how do I switch him from seed mix to a pellet mix? I put pure pellets in his food dish just so that he knew what they were, then after about 3 hours, I mixed in about half seed mix. I was told to switch him basically like switching a dog, but I wasn't sure if that would work, considering that he can just pick out the seeds and leave the pellets, or throw the pellets on the floor. So, what would be the best way to switch him over? I'm really worried that he'll just starve to death instead of eating the pellets.

My white faced tiel is a male and the only way I knew at first was when he was a little baby...he umm tried to have fun with my ex's hand. No other way to put it. As he got older he began to be very verbal, which I heard males talk more then females, but that does not make it definate a bird is a male...however after letting him near my other 2 birds who are females I know hes a male because every second hes not watched hes trying to mount them so thats how I know. I only know of one other safe way which is the dna way. I dont have any pics of him right now, Ill look when I get home to see where I put them all.

He does have a smaller mirror, which he sometimes tries to cuddle with and sometimes beats the crap out of. Also, what's the best way to better incorporate a cockatiel in your family? I would LOVE to get him to trust us enough to let him sit on our fingers or our shoulders. As of right now, he's TERRIFIED of peoples' hands coming near him. That's because my fiance's little cousin used to grab his feet and pull on them through the cage bars. I've been trying to slowly get closer and closer to him without hurting him or having him freak out. I'm trying to get to the point of being able to touch his feet from outside of the cage without him being scared or grouchy. Can anyone else give me any more advice? I just don't feel like loosing any appendages!

I was told that if you have a single bird that a mirror is not a good thing to have for them because they bond with there reflection and can become mean...however whats the difference between bonding with a mirror and another bird...*shrug* my female bicker but thats because one is older and one is still young but they dont bite. My male is alone and loves to wooo the ladies but hes mean. We held him when he was little but he never seemed to get out of the nippy stage. Now without a towel or a firm voice he will draw blood. My little brat that he is

The way you tell if it is male or female is if they have dull grey faces, with possible barring underneith their wings its a female, and if it has a bright white face with no barring its a safe bet its a male, otherwise the only other way to tell is by DNA testing.

this is a whitefaced grey female...

Thanks Shadow! I personally like the look of the males better... Lol.

LOL, yah i love the males, but i just recently got a w-f-grey and i thought it might be a male but every day i'm leaning more and more twards female.... darn, i was hoping for a male. but you never know? i think i'm going to have her..or him DNA tested.

as for the taming part. what i did for one of my cockatiels is i took them out of the cage (with leather gloves on ofcourse) and then took him to a different room with my playstand, away from the other birds and noises and i slowely began to work with him. first talking to him then teaching the step-up command, after he got comfortable on my finger without the glove i slowely walked around my house until he got used to that then began to socialize him with the rest of the family. it might take take a few weeks but its worth it in the long run. andother good way to build trust with them is after they're used to your hand start getting some treats that they like and feed it to it out of your hand. it really worked with my birds and now we have a bond to last forever. as for the companion thing i just got them a parakeet. my parakeet keeps them occupied for a long while, but i would suggest getting the same sex as the cockatiel.
Good Luck, and remember patience is the key.

I have a white face cockatiel. The previous owner told me baby is a female. She does not sing, as my boy does. She appears to have the characteristics of a female cockatiel. Having said this, I have had her caged with a male cockatiel and they have not even come close to mating. Is it possible that Baby is a Babo?

This is my white face cockatiel. The previous owner told me that she is a female. She has the "traditional" female characteristics. Having said this, I have her with a male and they have not even come close to mating. Is it possible that Baby is a Babo?

Wow, she is gorgeous. However, I don't know anything about birds so I can't help. Sorry.

Very pretty birds. Don't know anything about them unfortunately but if you do a search for visually sexing cockatiels you'll come up with lots of info. Hope this helps.

Do you have a nesting box? They wont start mating till they have one. The male will go into the box and knock on it and make a funny noise trying to get her to come in. Then they start mating.

I do have a mating box but neither has gone into it. In fact, he either calls her with a wolf call or he attacks her (what we believe to be a her) biting her hard on her back and legs. I really question whether she is a she or a he. I was hoping someone would have an idea from looking at her.

It is hard to tell by the looks on white ones. Well for me it is.
You might be right about her being a he.