Polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism applied to sex identification of Accipiter cooperii.

Determination of sex in birds is valuable for studying population dynamics and structure, habitat use, behavior and mating systems. The purpose of the present study was to optimize a DNA-based methodology to allow the sex identification in Accipiter cooperii nestlings. Chromo-helicase-DNA-binding (CHD1) gene was used in this work as a marker for sex identification.