Visual Sexing of Senegals

Compiled by Rex Sheasby and Jean Pattison

Mature Senegal parrots can usually be sexed by careful examination of the under-tail (ventral) coverts. Successfully doing so requires an understanding of what to look for, and where. The pictures below illustrate the three color patterns encountered.

An adult male Senegal with the typical pure yellow under-tail coverts. Mature males with even a hint of green in these feathers are quite rare.

An adult female Senegal with a mixture of green and yellow in the under-tail coverts. Even the slightest trace of green in these feathers  indicates a female. It may be necessary to hold the bird upside down in a good light in these cases.

An adult female Senegal with mostly green under-tail coverts. Immature Senegals also have this appearance.

Mature male Senegals almost always have pure yellow under-tail coverts.  The survey below will help the avicultural community determine just how rare males with some green in this area are.

Mature female Senegals usually have at least some green in the under-tail coverts, but the amount may be so slight that the loss of a single feather can make a female appear pure yellow. This means that there are a few females with the male color pattern.

Visual sexing is not 100% reliable, but no sexing method short of babies in the nestbox is 100% reliable. Even DNA sexing has been known to fail.

Isabel Taylor was told about the color differences in under-tail coverts by an unknown (to us) breeder. She wrote about it in the newsletter of the Smoky Mountain Cage Bird Society, but we were unable to obtain a copy. One of us (Rex) mentioned visually sexing Senegals in an article ("Senegal Topics") in the Dec. 1991 issue of Bird World..

We are interested in gathering data on as many Senegals as possible.   Please take a moment to answer the four questions. Thanks for your help!

1. How old is your Senegal? If the exact age is unknown, but the approximate age is known, give a best estimate.
   Unknown Less than 1 year 1 year 2 years 3 years 4 years 5 years 6 years 7 years 8 years 9 years 10 years 11 years 12 years 13 years 14 years 15 years 16 years 17 years 18 years 19 years 20 years 21 years 22 years 23 years 24 years 25 years Over 25 years  
2. What sex is your Senegal (determined by DNA analysis, surgical sexing, or breeding)?
   Male
   Female
   Unknown
3. Your Senegal was:
   Raised in captivity
   Imported as a wild-caught bird
4. Is there ANY green at all in the under-tail coverts? 
   (see the diagrams for the location of these feathers)
   Yes, mostly green
   Yes, about half and half
   Yes, just a little green
   No, there is no green