Bird Bazaar - Information about the care and breeding of finches

Bird Sex Determination


Sex determination in finches is often a problem for the beginner. If the bird lays eggs, certainly it is female. The female has ability to lay an egg independently; she does not need to have a male nearby. However, if that is not the case, but you want to make a pair for breeding? There are several methods to determine the sex of a bird. Sex-specific differences in coloration can be useful for some species of finches as it is shown in the table. These differences can be expressive or slight, and then require additional observation for small details available only for experienced breeders to be noticed. If you prefer a more concise way of determining the bird’s sex, there is the DNA sexing technique.





Species	Latin name	Sex distinguishable characteristics	Sexual characteristics are not easily determined
Black-headed munia	Lonchura atricapilla		The sexes are alike.
Blue-faced parrot finch	Erythrura trichora		The female is duller in coloration with less blue on the face.
Cherry finch	Aidemosyne modesta	The male has a plum bib under his beak. The female lacks the plum bib and has a thin white stripe above the eye.
Cutthroat finch	Amadina fasciata	The female lacks the red throat band.
Diamond firetail finch	Emblema guttata		The sexes are alike.
Dybowski's Twinspot waxbill	Euschistospiza dybowskii		The female is duller in coloration.
Golden-breasted waxbill	Amandava subflava	The male has red stripe above his eyes and he is more brightly colored than female.
Gouldian finch	Erythrura gouldiae		The female is duller in coloration and the bill turns gray during breeding.
Java rice sparrow	Padda oryzivora		If a male and a female are held beak to beak, the male will show a larger and more massive beak, especially at the base.
Masked finch	Poephila personata		The black mask of the female is smaller.
Melba finch	Pytilia melba	The female is duller, has a grey head while the male has a red face and red throat.
Orange-cheeked waxbill	Estrilda melpoda		The female is duller in coloration.
Owl (Bicheno's) finch	Stizoptera bichenovii		The female is duller in coloration.
Parson finch	Poephila cincta		The male's trouser stripe tends to be wider and the throat bib is much broader.
Red-billed firefinch	Lagonosticta senegala	The male has scarlet plumage apart from brown wings, female - brown upperpart and buff underpart.
Red-cheeked cordon bleu	Uraeginthus bengalus	The female looks like the male except for the red patch on the cheeks.
Red-eared waxbill	Estrilda troglodytes		The female is duller in coloration.
Red-faced parrot finch	Erythrura psittacea		The female is duller and less red on the face.
Saffron finch	Sicalis flaveola		The female is duller in coloration.
Shafttail finch	Poephila acuticauda		Female have a slightly smaller and rounder bib.
Society (Bengalese) finch	Lonchura striata var. domestica		The sexes are alike.
Spice finch	Lonchura punctulata		The sexes are alike.
Star finch	Bathilda ruficauda	The male has a lot more red in the face area than female.
Strawberry finch	Amandava amandava	During the breeding season the male is brown- red; outside this period he looks like the female.
Swee waxbill	Estrilda melanotis	The male has a black face, but the female's face is grey.
White-headed munia	Lonchura maja		The sexes are alike.
Zebra finch	Taeniopygia guttata	Male has orange-red ear patches, black wavy markings at the throat, and sides are chestnut with round white spots.

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