Expert: Chrys Meatyard - 1/6/2008

Question
I bought a parakeet for my husband for Christmas and i dont know if its a boy or girl im very confused.Can u help me. The parakeet is about 2mths old now an we would like to know so we can name it.     
                                  Thank You
                                   Tara Harris

Answer
Hi, Tara,

Basically, male keets have blue ceres and females have brown/white/tan/beige (or basically any other color than blue).  An adult female can also have a blue cere, however, the cere will be framed in white.  The cere is the colored area above the bird's beak.  It will be very difficult at your bird's young age of 2 months to sex.  This is because the bird has not yet gone through at least 1 molt.  The first molt usually occurs at about 6 months of age.  However, you may be able to start sexing this bird when it is 3-4 months old, depending on the overall coloration of the bird.  In other words, until your new bird starts getting its adult featheration (coloration), you may not be able to accurately determine its sex.  Therefore, if you want to name it now, I recommend you pick a name that can apply to either sex.

Chrys