You are currently viewing How to Determine the Sex of a                               ​Lovebird.

How to Determine the Sex of a ​Lovebird.

Lovebirds can be wonderful as pets birds. They have a cute chatter and beautiful coloring in their fethers, in addition they are very social creatures. Most of the species that are kept as pets, however, They are not easily sexed. That’s why If you are interested in getting some lovebirds, but don’t necessary want them to breed or have eggs, it is very important that you figure out each of their sex before you place them in the same cage. If you don’t, figure out their sex first you could end up with more birds than you wanted.Determining the Sex With Physical Tests

You can give your lovebirds a simple physical exam. If you are just curious about the sex of your lovebirds, and are ok with the possibility of being wrong, a simple physical exam can give you some clues and ideas. For example, feeling the distance between their pelvic bones can help you know the sex.The Female lovebirds need more space in the pelvic region in order to pass eggs through. Now This means that you may be able to distinguish a male from a female by comparing the space in the pelvic of several lovebird’s pelvic bones.
Place the lovebird into your less-dominant hand holding it upside down, with its head is away from you. Place your pointer and middle fingers of your dominant hand and slowly and gently feel around the pelvic area of the lovebird. You should feel the pelvic bones through the feathers and skin.
once you do this,Then compare how one bird’s pelvic bones feel compared to others. This is the one way you can determine which ones are wider from the other.

Get a Blood TestGet a blood test. This is The best way to find out a lovebird’s sex. Your bird’s DNA will be examined in a lab and you will have a conclusive answer as to the sex of the bird. The way this works is the following, there are many online services that will send you a tool kit to your home with instructions in how to do it yourself. Then you send it to the lab by mail and they once finish will send you the results of your lovebird sex by male.Get your bird surgically sexed.Get your bird surgically sexed is another option. With this procedure, the bird will be put to sleep, a small incision will be made in its abdomen, and the veterinarian will inspect its reproductive organs. This is an invasive procedure that is not usually suggested for pet birds. Instead, it is predominantly used by bird breeders.
Once a bird is surgically sexed, a tattoo is usually applied to the bird to permanently mark it as male or female. Another advantage that this procedure has is that if the bird has any internal problem you will be able to know and take action.

Do Not make the  Common Sexing Mistakes


Determine if you have a breed of lovebird that has unique sex characteristics. Most lovebirds can’t be sexed based on a visual examination like some other lovebirds, like Madagascar lovebirds. The most common type kept as a pet, the peach-faced lovebird, has to be DNA tested to truly determine the sex because they all feel similar. Other  people argue that female lovebirds are generally bigger than male lovebirds. This is only visible in certain breeds of lovebirds. Like the Madagascar Lovebird.

Do not rely on paper shredding and nest-building behavior to sex your birdDo not think that paper shredding and nest-building behavior to sex your lovebirds. When lovebirds are interested in mating they tend to shred paper all the time, regardless they are male or female. This seems to be true across species, with Fischer’s and peach-faced lovebirds, for example, exhibiting the same behavior regardless of sex.  While some people argue that females lovebirds are better then male Lovebirds at paper shredding, and so can be spotted by their skill and precision and speed, But this seems to be a difficult way of determining the exact sex of the lovebird.


Don’t assume that a bonded pair of lovebirds are male and female.
​ If lovebirds are kept in a pair, they tend to form an intense bond with each other. It has no efect what the sex of the lovebirds is. Lovebirds kept together for a long period of time will become inseparable . Even Bonded pairs of the same sex of lovebirds are known to work on nesting together.

Raidel Marrero CEO

My name is Raidel Marrero, I am the creator of TampaLovebirds.Com and a bird breeder here in Tampa Florida. I love to write and share all my personal experiences here in our blog. We also ship our birds all over the US, bringing happiness and love to many homes.

This Post Has One Comment

  1. Cat rekate

    That is awesome you are learning about how lovebirds can bond and how mating works with determining gender thank you. 😊

Leave a Reply