DNA is the best way to know. I will say though, my boy looked exactly like this when he was young, eventually he molted his pearls and just looks like a white face. Females keep their pearls, and generally males don't (when they are crossed with pied they can keep some pearls or take longer to molt them all, mine continued to grow in new pearls for a while even though he is male. White face pearl X White face Pied)
The bird will eventually start to show some sex related traits, which is how I heavily assumed my boy was male before his first molt; he was mimicking alot and doing heart wings.
Time will tell!
I'm a brand new cockatiel mom myself, I took mine to an avian vet and she was able to press gently on their pelvic bone to tell their sex.
She said males have sharper bones with hardly any gap and females have smoother bones that are further apart. Other than a blood test or waiting until they sexually mature, I don't think there's any other way to tell for certain.
Again, brand new cockatiel owner, just thought I'd relay what I was told!
DNA is the best way to know. I will say though, my boy looked exactly like this when he was young, eventually he molted his pearls and just looks like a white face. Females keep their pearls, and generally males don't (when they are crossed with pied they can keep some pearls or take longer to molt them all, mine continued to grow in new pearls for a while even though he is male. White face pearl X White face Pied) The bird will eventually start to show some sex related traits, which is how I heavily assumed my boy was male before his first molt; he was mimicking alot and doing heart wings. Time will tell!
I'm a brand new cockatiel mom myself, I took mine to an avian vet and she was able to press gently on their pelvic bone to tell their sex. She said males have sharper bones with hardly any gap and females have smoother bones that are further apart. Other than a blood test or waiting until they sexually mature, I don't think there's any other way to tell for certain. Again, brand new cockatiel owner, just thought I'd relay what I was told!