Budgies

Budgies

Description:
The normal budgie has a bright green plumage on the chest. The wings are a mix of green with black. The heads of the budgie has black lines covering a yellow head. 
Younger birds have the lines down the forehead, and the eye is entirely black (except for albinos). As the bird matures the lines recede on the forehead, and a white ring forms around the ‘pupil’ of the eye.

 

They are about 7 – 10 inches and have a life span of about 10 – 12 years with good diet and care.

 

You can also sex budgies by looking at them; the female birds have a brownish cere. The males have a deep blue cere, but the colour only appears after the bird is about 6 months old.

 

As Pets:
Budgies make good pets but generally need to be kept in pairs. A few budgies can be taught to talk, but not all will. A big factor in the birds talking ability is being hand-reared. Hand raised birds are more likely (but not guaranteed) to speak. Budgies can be excellent pets if they are treated with love and attention. The budgie is often under estimated as a pet.

 

Noise level between 1 to 10:
Budgies are quieter than many other bird species. Although some budgie owners are known to express how loud they can be so for this we will give the budgie a 3 for noise level.

 

Behaviour:
Curiosity & Playing – Every budgie has its own unique personality, but all budgies are naturally curious and playful little birds. Your budgie’s antics will entertain you for sure. It is important to foster your budgie’s curiosity and playfulness by making sure you provide various toys in the cage and different healthy foods daily.

 

Budgies are social flock birds. The flock is a very important part of a budgie’s life. Almost everything a budgie does is normally flock oriented. Preening, eating, napping, socializing are all done as a flock. It is important to make sure your pet budgie is part of a flock. If your budgie is alone and is not tame and does not have much interaction with anyone in the household, he will be missing a vital aspect of his life. In this case, it is best to provide your budgie with a flock-mate, another budgie, in an appropriately sized cage for two. If your budgie is tame, you must make him feel like your family is his flock. Your budgie needs daily time out of the cage, with plenty of interaction.

 

Breeding seasons:
There is no set breeding season for budgies. The Average Clutch Size is 4 – 8 eggs, the hen may produce several clutches a year under favourable conditions (plenty of food, good and safe housing, availability of nest box, etc.) the hen incubates the eggs for 18 days.

 

Prone illnesses:
Some of the common illnesses your budgie could get are Psittacosis (Check out new article on Psittacosis in Article Section), Aspergillosis – respiratory infection, Candidiasis, sinus inflammations, diarrhea, egg binding, egg pecking, eye infections, feather plucking, goitre or thyroid gland enlargement, mites, and Salmonella, worms just to name a few.

 

Types of budgie:
There are over 32 different mutations of the budgie. They are all the same species just bread for different colour mutation

 

Diet:
A Budgie’s diet is extremely important and is the key to having a healthy budgie – along with exercise.

 

Give your bird a good-quality budgie seed mix. These are readily available at pet suppliers and supermarkets. Insure the mixes do not contain a large quantity of hulled oats as these are fattening, and do not buy the seed in bulk – you are best to purchase small fresh packets.

 

Alternatively, you can offer your budgie a pellet diet.

 

Your budgie’s diet must be supplemented with fresh fruit and vegetables on a daily basis.

 

Budgies enjoy spray millet and seed treats such as honey bells or sticks

Learn more about the various types of parrots