How to choose a thrush for keeping? Methods for sexing male and female thrushes

Based on age, thrushes can be divided into four stages: ① “Nestling” refers to a newly hatched young bird that has not yet left the nest and cannot fly; ② “Soft-feathered” refers to a young bird from the end of the “nestling” stage until the feathers have fully grown; ③ “Fully-feathered” refers to a young bird from the “soft-feathered” stage until after the molt the following year. ④ “Old-feathered” refers to an adult bird after 2 years of age. The first three stages are young birds. Most thrushes sold on the market are wild birds recently caught, called raw birds. Bird keepers without experience should choose tame birds. A domesticated tame bird has the following characteristics: feathers with friction scars, relatively long toes and claws, relatively dull skin luster, not afraid of people, calm demeanor, able to sing freely, and singing without stopping. A wild thrush in a cage appears restless, even flapping and bumping around wildly, and does not sing.

Beginners can also choose young birds for keeping, because young birds have a relatively gentle temperament and are easy to keep and tame. It is best to choose “soft-feathered” or “fully-feathered” young birds whose feathers have already fully grown; they have good constitutions, adapt relatively well to the environment, and have a relatively high survival rate. The disadvantage is that the singing period is relatively short and the song is not melodious enough.

Bird-keeping enthusiasts with some experience can choose “old-feathered” thrushes, because their song is better. Adult birds have an impatient temperament and are not easy to tame. But if tamed properly, after “opening the song” (that is, starting to sing after taming), apart from the molting season, they can sing all year round, and the song is impassioned and pleasant.

A top-grade thrush has the following characteristics: a thick and strong beak, a rounded beak peak, an outward-extending beak, long nostrils, round and spirited eyes, upright ears, no head tilting, no crouching at the bottom of the cage, no drilling at the perch, a large hind toe pad, thick and powerful claws, and fine feather shafts that are light in color. When singing, it should grip the perch firmly, with the ears and body upright and the tail hooked on the perch, displaying a heroic posture; the body should not sway left and right, and the head should be raised high rather than looking downward (looking downward is called “head lowering” and is inferior); when singing, the tail should curve slightly downward and must not swing up and down or turn upward; the feathers should hug the body tightly, and the beak peak should be pointed, long, and pure in color. For a thrush that sings well and fights well, there is a bird-selection mnemonic: “body like a gourd, tail like a zither; neck like cut bamboo, beak like a nail; add a pair of beef-tendon legs, and one cage can beat nine bird cages.”

Generally, only male birds are kept, not female birds. This is because the male bird's song is melodious and pleasant, while the female bird's call is monotonous and unpleasant to hear, so it is not welcomed by keepers. Sexing the thrush is relatively difficult. Several methods are briefly introduced below:

Listen to the song: This is the most reliable identification method. The male bird's song is complex and varied, with an impassioned and melodious tone, rich in rhythm; the female bird's song is monotonous and unpleasant to hear.

Look at body shape: The male bird's body is compact and slender; the female bird is plump and short.

Look at the head: The male bird's head is large and long, with a broad forehead that is nearly square, a thick black neck extending straight forward, a thick and strong beak, a relatively rounded beak peak ridge, long nostrils with a large exposed portion, and dense beak bristles extending slightly outward; the female bird's head is round and small.

Look at the feathers: The female bird's feathers are relatively beautiful, while the male bird's are somewhat inferior. The male bird's feather shaft lines are fine and light in color, and the tips of the primary wing feathers are relatively pointed, while the female bird's are rounded and blunt.

In addition, the male bird's legs are thick and large, and the hind toes and claws are thick and strong.