Aussie Finch Forum

I was told that you could determine the sex of any bird with a small piece of round lead hanging from a string.
You hold the bird upside down with one hand and with the other hand hang the lead ball over the anus area of the bird.
The ball will start to move by itself. If it move in a circle, it is a female. If it moves left and right then it is a male.
Fact or fiction?

Sounds like fiction to me. What would be influencing the ball in this situation?

This old chestnut has been around for a long time.
There is no doubt it works ... 50% of the time

Jokes aside, some very experienced aviculturalists swear by it, but it doesn't work for me.
Perhaps I am not experienced enough !

I've never heard of the lead ball one but i have heard of the needle on a thread one which i think is also false. But everyone to their own if it works for them good luck.

Someone did this over my belly 34 yrs ago. And told me that I was going to have a girl. My son will be 34 next month.

finchbreeder wrote: ↑25 Oct 2020, 23:44 Someone did this over my belly 34 yrs ago. And told me that I was going to have a girl. My son will be 34 next month.

LOL

BrettB wrote: ↑25 Oct 2020, 11:31 This old chestnut has been around for a long time.
There is no doubt it works ... 50% of the time

LOL

It's rubbish and an old wives tail. Like finding water with a stick or telling if a pregnant woman is going to have a boy or girl by how low she is carrying.

In most birds the male is bigger and has a bigger head than the females. Males usually have slightly more colour, or a different colour/ patterns to females. Males usually sing and females usually chirp.

If you have pictures of the birds, we can try to sex them for you.