Can budgies and cockatiels live together? How to tell male or female?

If your are unsure of your bird's genders you can have them tested at your local vet (blood test) to determine if you have a male and female or two males/females. Same-sex birds can attempt to mate with each other, especially if it is mating season for them. If one of the birds seems stressed out by this, then separating the two for a period of time is best to avoid increasing stress or causing injury to one of the birds. If you are interested in breeding your birds and have a male and female, adding in more protein and calcium to their diet, as well as increasing the amount of daylight they get may help encourage egg laying and raising a clutch.

Both sexes can sing but male are usually more vocal. Some of the breeds have distinguishing external characteristics like brighter cheek patches (males) or horizontal bars on tail and primary feathers (once sexually mature). A veterinary visit can take a small blood sample to determine sex. Good luck.

Due to the large size difference between both birds I would not recommend attempting to house them together in a cage or small aviary as your larger bird could easily pick on or kill your smaller bird.

If the cage is large enough for two birds and they are introduced gradually, another female cockatiel could be added. Adding a male will likely lead to mating and egg laying. Also, the possibility exists that the birds will bond with one another and interact less with you.

Hi, Chicko may be a male, but since he’s so young, his light orange cheek teaches may need time to brighten as he reached sexual maturity. However, the solid vs batted tail feathers you refer to is also an accurate way to tell the difference. However, I would need to see the underside of the tail feathers (not the top). If the the underside is speckled or barred, then Chicko would be female, if feathers are solid then should be male. The cheek patches should brighten in time with maturity. I hope this helps!

There are ways to determine a cockatiel's gender. The link below outlines several. https://www.cockatiel.com/malefemale.html The definitive method to determine gender is to have them sexed via DNA testing. This is done using blood or feather samples. Male cockatiels do not lay eggs. Female cockatiels may lay eggs even in the absence of a male. If you have 2 females, the eggs will be infertile and will not hatch. Fertilized eggs hatch after about 3 weeks of incubation. She may lay one egg every 24-48 hours until she has a clutch of up to 8 eggs. Do not remove any of the eggs. This will cause her to continue laying which can be dangerous. If you have a confirmed pair, I would suggest getting in touch with an experienced avian veterinarian or breeder to guide you if you plan on keeping the chicks.

Cockatiels are approximately twice the size of a budgie. Both budgies and cockatiels are easily tamed, persistence will be required to trach them to talk however. Personally I think you get more interaction from a cockatiel but it really depends on the individual bird and how much time you invest.