What Is A Budgie?:

Commonly referred to as parakeets by Americans, budgerigars (budgies for short) are small, colorful parrots which originate from Australia where they live in enormous nomadic flocks. They were introduced into Europe as pets around 1840 and have since become the world's most popular pet bird. (It is now illegal to export budgies from Australia.)

These birds are, in fact, parakeets but it must be understood that the term "parakeet" involves a large group of parrots. Technically, a parakeet is any small parrot with a long, tapered tail though some will use this term even more loosely to describe any small parrot. Some examples of other parakeets are the quaker parakeet/parrot, indian ringneck, and lineolated parakeets.

In the wild, budgies are predominantly green with a yellow face mask, black markings, and a dark blue tail. (This color is referred to as "normal green" as pictured to the side.) Because of selective breeding you can find pet budgies in a wide variety of colors and patterns that are unlike the normal, "wild" coloration. These fancy colors and patterns are referred to as mutations. Behaviorally, all mutations are the same. The only thing that sets one mutation apart from another is appearance.

There are two different types of budgies: English (sometimes called Show or Exhibition) budgies and American (often called pet or standard) budgies. As mentioned above, these are the same species and originated in Australia. However, once budgies were introduced as pets, humans began to breed them to look different. The english budgies were bred to be larger and have a very puffy head and grandfatherly look to them. American budgies are a bit smaller and lack this "pompous" appearance.

Is A Budgie Right For Me?:

Budgies are incredibly fun pets and when trained properly, love to interact with people. They can be taught to talk (though not all will and this should never be the reason you buy any bird) and their antics will amuse you for hours. Budgies are adorable, colorful, hyperactive, and full of personality. No two budgies are exactly alike in personality.

On the other hand, budgies are small parrots and all parrots are messy, loud, and expensive to keep. With a budgie you get all of these things on a smaller scale but many people are still not quite prepared to handle them. On average, your budgie will poop every fifteen minutes. He will throw his food everywhere and during a moult it can look as if someone got into a fight with a feather duster!

While they are much quieter than the larger parrot species, they can make quite a racket. One noise in particular that budgie owners complain about is the infamous ACK ACK ACKing. It can sound like your bird is terrified but in reality, budgies make this noise for many different reasons and sometimes for no reason other than to hear their own lovely voice.

Vet care for a budgie is going to cost much more than for a dog or cat. Because regular vets are not educated or equipped enough to properly treat birds, you must find an avian veterinarian. Not only are these more expensive, but they're also harder to find. Most people end up having to travel quite far to get their birds to an avian vet so if transportation is a problem, this could pose a large problem. If you're not sure where the nearest avian vet is, you can refer to these links:

AAV

and

Avian Vets & Veterinarian Services

One of the local vet clinics may also be able to refer you to the nearest avian veterinarian if you give them a call.

Do Budgies Need A Friend?:

When purchasing your first budgie, it is best to get just one. This will make taming much much easier as two budgies are more likely to bond to each other instead of you. Once you have the first budgie tame, you can decide whether or not a second budgie is a good idea.

Budgies are extremely social creatures and in the wild they would live in massive flocks. If you have less than a few hours to devote to your budgie every day, getting a friend for him may be a good idea. Here are some very important things to remember when you're thinking of adding another budgie to your family:

1.) Any new bird must be quarantined for at least 30 days before having contact with your existing bird(s). This means keeping it in a separate room as well as a separate cage and making sure that no contact is made with the other bird. Always wash your hands and change any clothing that has come in contact with the new bird before handling the original one.

2.) It is possible that your new bird and original bird will not get along. Always plan ahead for the fact that you might end up having to keep the two birds separate permanently. They may still enjoy each other's company during out of cage time or they may just have to chatter back and forth from one cage to the other. You might have to alternate which bird is out of the cage which is a bit more work for you.

3.) Another bird means another expense as far as extra food, toys, cage, vet bills, etc.

4.) Two males often get along better than a male and female or female and female. Females tend to be more bossy and aggressive toward other budgies.

The quarantine period is a great time to tame your new bird so that when you introduce it to the other, they don't ignore you completely. It's impossible to predict just how much your relationship with the first budgie will change once he/she has a friend but if both birds are tame and comfortable with you, you have a much greater chance of them choosing to interact with you as a member of their flock.

How Do You Tell A Male From A Female?:

Adult budgies are easy to sex by looking at their ceres (the fleshy area above the beak where the "nostrils" are located). Females *always* have a whitish, tannish, or brown cere. When in breeding condition, the female's cere will be a deep brown color and may appear crusty. When out of breeding condition, the female's cere can be white, tan, or flesh colored. Often, a female will have a white cere with areas of light blue. Adult males will usually have bright blue ceres.

There are exceptions to the rules. Albino, lutino, and recessive pied males will have a smooth pink cere instead of blue. Albino birds are pure white with red eyes. Lutinos are pure yellow (save for light colored flight feathers and white cheek patches) with red eyes. Recessive pieds are budgies that have splotches of colors and bright orange beaks.

Young budgies are much harder to sex as most of them will have a pinkish purple cere. One of the best clues is that young females often have distinct white rings around the nostrils and the cere is often a bit lighter in color. Young males have a more even-colored cere and while they may have rings around the nostrils, they usually aren't as distinct and are more translucent.

Baby budgies have pure black eyes while adults often have a light colored ring around the dark area of the eye. This is called the iris ring and most budgies (with the exception of recessive pieds) acquire this ring by the time they are 12 months of age. Baby budgies also have black bars running from the forehead down to the cere. With the first molt (which happens around 4 months of age) the bars will gradually recede. Extremely young budgies have black areas on the beak and this indicates a budgie that is no more than six weeks of age.

Sexing by behavior is sometimes possible but it is the least reliable method. Generally, males are less aggressive and nippy but more vocal than females in that they will spend more time singing and warbling away. Females are often bossier and more monotonous with their chirps. If you observe budgies you might see one approach another and lock beaks with it. This is how budgies feed each other (they regurgitate food for their partner) and often it will be the male who initiates this action. But, as I mentioned, this is not foolproof by any means and I've seen both sexes display all of these traits.

More sexing information can be found here.

Housing:

The minimum cage size for a single budgie should be at least 18"x18"x18" with 1/2" bar spacing or less. Wider bar spacing is large enough for your budgie to get his/her head stuck and this can lead to serious injury or even death.

Wide cages are FAR better than tall cages. Budgies tend to spend most of their time at the highest point of their cage and more side to side more than they'll move up and down. Providing horizontal space is important. Tall cages will appear very spacious so it helps to focus on the highest point of any cage and imagine that the lower half isn't there. Does it still look spacious if you picture it this way?

Another important point is that cages shaped to appeal to you are often no good for your budgie. House-shaped cages are cute but the design takes a lot of useable space away from your budgie. Try to stick with square or rectangular cages for your budgie so that he can get that most out of his new home.

Round cages are the worst design as they provide no corners for your budgie to feel safe in and have very little space. These are not to be confused with dometop cages. Round cages are like cylinders whereas dometop cages are rectangular or square with an arch at the top. Dometop cages are perfectly fine.

The rule of thumb is that bigger (wider, not taller) is better. There is no such thing as a cage that is too big for your budgie. Just make sure the bar spacing is 1/2 inch or less and get the largest cage that you can afford.

Try to buy powder coated or stainless steel cages as some metals as well as rust are dangerous to budgies. Your budgie may chew on the bars of his cage so this is an important detail to remember.

Perches:

Most cages come with wooden or plastic dowel perches. These should be replaced with a variety of other perches of different shapes and textures. Rope perches and natural branch perches (such as manzanita) are good to use. A concrete perch can help keep your budgie's nails trimmed.

Toys:

Budgies LOVE to play! They should have a few different toys in their cage at all times and in order to keep your budgie from becoming bored, rotate in new toys regularly. Most budgies love toys with bells, balls, and rings. Shredder toys are great and females especially love these.

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