How to determine the sex for pairing of your Fischer's Lovebird: Tips and Tricks

Beautiful contrast of red and green colors, an attractive red beak and a voice so pleasing, you can literally listen to them singing all day. Yes I'm talking about the lovely species of lovebirds, Fischer. Almost everyone want these lovely birds in their home. Some also want them to breed so that they can watch their adorable babies hatch out of the eggs and grow. But there are a dozen problems that a person encounters regarding the breeding of these birds. The first and foremost problem is that all the Fischer look alike and there is physically no difference between the male and female. Then how will you identify the pairs among many Fischer in your cage? It is very simple, we have got some easy solutions for you. Read on.... 

Fisher's lovebird are very difficult to sex by their outward appearance, which is the first problem for the beginners.

How to start:

1) Suppose you have six adult Fischer, keep all of them in a single cage. The cage should have enough space for them to easily fly from one perch to other, allow them a week to get themselves acquainted with each other.

2) Now, to check the pairs of your birds. There are many methods to determine which bird has paired with whom; 

Method 1:
Place three nest-boxes for roosting. Soon you will see that each pair occupy a nest-box and at night by blocking the entrance of each nest-box, the captured pair can be moved to a separate cage. This method is not usually successful for the beginners because as soon as you try to block the entrance, all pairs come out of their nest-boxes and mix together, due to this disturbance the pairs will not enter to their respective nest-boxes, sometimes for 2-3 days. 

Method 2:

In consideration of the problem of beginners, I have created a method which is very simple and 100% effective for the beginners. In this method, you do not have to place nest-boxes in the cage rather, we catch one bird at a time and mark a number say 1,2,3... on their beaks, with a black marker and leave them in the cage for half an hour which is sufficient time for them to calm down. After they calm down, they will again sit together in a paired form and at that time, without disturbing them, gently note down the number on their beaks, pair-wise. After you note down pair-wise numbers, for example, bird with number 1 paired with number 4 and so on, then again catch all these birds and place them in accordance to their noted paired numbers in separate cages . Please note that this catching and marking process should be carried out in a closed room (without ceiling fan) or in master cage so that if the bird accidentally escaped from your hand, it can be easily catched again.

It is pertinent to mention here that fisher's lovebird has a strange attitude of pairing. Sometimes two females and sometimes two males form a pair and as it is impossible to distinguish their sex by outward appearance hence, after assigning each pair a separate nest-box, we have to wait a month or two, so that the pair lay their first clutch,

     a- If the pair lay more than 8 eggs, then it is sure that they are both females and as both birds are females, therefore the eggs will not be fertiled.

     b- If the pair does not lay any egg for more than 2 months despite they made their nest and roost in it, this thing confirm that they are both males.

     c- If the pair lay eggs not more than 7-8 eggs, then it is a confirm pair of male and female so let them to incubate their eggs from which the chicks will hatch out after 20-24 days depending upon the weather. The fertility of their eggs can also be confirmed after 10 days as at that time the color of the eggs will turn from white to bluish black and veins of the chick can be easily seen by placing the egg in front of a torch.

I hope that these tips will help you to determine the sex and pairing process of your Fischer's lovebird.