What Sex?

Hi All
Just wondered if anyone could help me with this one. I have a senegal parrot which I bought in April this year and didn't know what sex it was as I was told it's very difficult to find out what sex it is when their babies. I have heard that you can pick a feather off the bird and send it for DNA testing - is this true and is there anywhere you can recommend to send it to?

Senegals of the nominate species can be visually sexed. If the green V on its chest is long and reaches almost all the way to the vent and the undercoverts of the tail (the smaller feathers that go from the belly to the beginning of the tail, underneath) have even the merest speck of green, it's a female (and pray that yours is one); and, if the green V is short and there is a lot of yellow on the sides (some of them even have yellow on the bend of the wing -you can see a little yellow from the top right were the wings come out of the body) and the undercoverts don't have any green in them, it's a boy (and prepare yourself for some nice bites when he is older).

If the Senegal is of the orange or red bellied variety, I recommend doing a DNA sexing with blood drawn by a vet and sending it to an internet lab (any of the ones that come up with the search engine will do well enough). They send you a form to fill out and a little vial and, when you take your bird to the vet for a check-up and they take blood for an avian panel, just ask them to put a bit of it in the vial for you. They have the results ready in a few days and charge about $25 for it.

Thank you very much for the info, unfortunately I think I have a male so I'm stocking up on plasters for my hands!

And your feet and your cheeks and your chin and your eyebrows and the top of your head and your neck and your ears and pretty much any place he can reach.