Aussie Finch Forum

Hi all,
thought I would share recent experience of trying to buy two young hen masked. From reading all that I could, seems the 'trouser' stripe and depth of black on the face are the 2 most relaible characterisitics apart from behavious of actaul pairs.

I was confident that the two birds that I had were cocks as they sung and also had 'wide' trouser' stripes. I sourced some young masks from a private aviculturalist who had 6-8 them in cages. Although young, there was a prounouced difference in the width of the stripe within the group, so I picked the two with the smallest stripe hoping they would be hens.

They were relased into the avairy and one of them has definitely paired up with one of the original males, having a close bond now and looking for nest sites ( a lot of tail quivering as well). The other two seems to have paired up, but wouldnt say they are as close as the first pair.
Although it is a bit hard to compare the depth & extent of the facial mask now that they are in the avairy and wont keep still, I would say this is harder to judge and may be more variable?.

interested to hear othres experiences.

In early January I bought a (supposed) pair of maskeds for the first time. They were sexed based on size/shape of the beak when viewed from the side - but to be honest I could barely see any difference. Just went and tried to check the trouser stripe, but I can't see any obvious difference (hard to tell as they're in a large aviary).This pair has now built 5 nests, but no eggs! I have only ever heard the "cock" sing and he is certainly the more active nest builder. They both work on the same nest and based on other finch behaviour I'd say they're a bonded pair. Is this multiple nest building typical of a masked pair? Or do I have 2 cocks?

It is possible that only one, the most dominant one, will sing. So unless you find some eggs...

Another possibility is to catch one out and keep it within hearing distance.
This triggers calling to eachother and sometimes singing too.

If not, when placed together again a couple hours later trying
then the reunion could give you a last chance...

I always buy at least 3 "pairs"
where you try to select according to visual differences
and put them with color bands together
to recognize possible couples.

The fact they had the chance to choose themselves a mate
increases the chances of a productive pair

I have used the size of the mask, head shape, trouser stripe etc method for years with pretty good success. BUT I have a good friend who than checks my pairs?? to see if he agrees. Between the two of us this method usually works.
If you are talking WE' Masks this method provides below average results. For example recently tried to make up some pairs using this method. DNA samples were taken from 2 two young colonies of we masks.

The results were surprising: 1st batch of dna = 5 hens and 2 cocks, I thought there was 6 hens and 1 cock.
2nd batch of dna = 12 cocks and 6 hens, I thought there was 8 hens, 8 cocks and 2 not sure sex.

You can see that DNA is the way to go. Unfortunately most breeders do not use dna on the less expensive species as it adds $30 to the price of the pair of birds. AND If you buy at a bird sale there is no time for dna results. So if possible buy 3 + pairs and check for yourself.

How reliable is bill colour for sexing WE masks?
Canary yellow bill on cocks, lighter on hens is what the feller said....

I have used the bill colour method in combination with the other known visual identifiers on my WE Masks for a number of years. I must admit that my adult breeding colony of WE were observed under normal lighting conditions, breeding condition, DNA sexed and leg ring identified prior to confirming this visual sexing methodology.

People with poor eyesight or colour vision deficiency will probably not pick the colour difference.

I have not mentioned this extra observation method in my previous posts as the colour differentials can vary considerably with in the species and importantly I have not seen any studies confirming or disputing this method.

Reliability = average, refer previous reply

DNA = 100%

The main plumage feature I use with maskeds is the shape & size of the mask near the outside edge of the lower mandible. Most hens tend to come into a V right at the corner of the lower mandible whereas most males hold to a relatively straight line which doesn't deviate so much toward the bill here. This is not 100% reliable but a pretty good indicator to use with other features. Another one just as reliable is the width of the crown when the bird is viewed from above the head in the hand. Males are usually wider and brighter in this area. I should stress that whenever we try to visually sex species which do not display a great deal of sexual dimorphism, we are deliberately selecting for the worst coloured hens. Best (most obvious) cocks, but worst (& most obvious) hens. This is one advantage of DNA sexing which didn't previously exist - the ability to select breeding hens which are the best physical specimens.

Try sexing them by the width of the scull, Cocks have a broader scull, Hens have narrower scull, its quiet distinct,
almost all australian Grassies can be sexed with that method.

Tiaris wrote: I should stress that whenever we try to visually sex species which do not display a great deal of sexual dimorphism, we are deliberately selecting for the worst coloured hens. Best (most obvious) cocks, but worst (& most obvious) hens. This is one advantage of DNA sexing which didn't previously exist - the ability to select breeding hens which are the best physical specimens.

That is a great point, Tiaris.

A while ago, someone posted a link to an article about long tails which suggested that longtails cannot visually sex other longtails. If they can't sex each other visually, surely I've got Buckley's.

Thanks for responses.