Serinus Citrinella Sexing

Serinus Citrinella is not a big bird: its length is of only 5 inches, which equals around 12 cm. The way one can distinguish females from males is usually the color difference, but when it comes to Serinus Citrinella this is particularly difficult, since there are no blatant differences between males and females in this respect: the only difference is that the colors on a male are brighter, especially the yellow. These birds are grayish above, with brown and black feathers to the back and the underparts as well as the face mask are yellow.

Serinus Citrinella birds do not actually copulate, but they are rather inseminated. The male does not have a penis, like most flying birds. Instead, the sperm comes from the cloaca and is rapidly transferred into the female’s cloaca through the so called cloaca kiss, when the male mounts the female. This only happens during the mating season and it takes seconds for the transfer to be completed.