I've got a lil boy cockertiel named holden and he has brightly colored orange spots on his cheeks.. the pet store told me that boys are generally more yellow than greay and brighter cheeks!!! not sure how true this is but hes definately a boy and my sister had one she thought was a girl for years and years and found out that it was actually a boy for the same reason.. funnily enough she still called it marge coz he was used to it already.. I agree they are gorgeous pets and my 10yo daughter is extremely attatched to him and he is to her..he even talks while she holds and pets him!!! first time i have seen a bird do that! its pretty cute actually..i think that the boys are more sociable than the girls from what i have heard..I had a lil girl one that was avery bred and totally antisocial so there could be some truth to it but then holden is hand reared so naturally alot friendlier to people....Theres also some helpful websites around too that can tell you some other facts if you google cockertiel you will find training tips and all that stuff aswell.

Cheers from Mel xx