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Budgerigar, Parakeets

Budgies

Family: PsittacidaeA Group of Very Colorful BudgiesMelopsittacus undulatusPhoto © Animal-World: Courtesy David Brough

   Not only does the Parakeet or Budgerigar make a super pet, but is also available in over 100 color forms!

  Colorful, attractive, and lively are just some of the great attributes of the Parakeet or Budgerigar. With their warm and inquisitive personalities, they make a great pet for both the beginner or an experienced bird keeper. They are quite hardy, inexpensive, and easy to care for.

To learn more about Parakeets and their needs visit:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Parakeet

Geographic Distribution Melopsittacus undulatus Data provided by GBIF.org Scientific Classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Psittaciformes Family: Psittacidae

Scientific Name: Melopsittacus undulatus

Overview, history, and species variants:    The parakeet, or Budgerigar, belongs to the family of true parrots, which explains why the parakeet is relatively adept at learning to talk. The parakeet comes from Australia and the first European to write anything about these colorful birds was John Gould in 1865 in his work titled "Birds of Australia".
   This bird, along with about 30 - 45 other small broad-tailed parrot species, belong to a tribe called Platycercini. The members of this group are all native to Australia in particular, but also to Australasia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, and nearby islands. Besides the Budgerigar, It includes birds like the grass parrots, Rosellas, and the New Zealand parrots.
   In the wild, the Parakeet or Budgerigar, comes from the interior of Australia where the landscape is almost desert-like and there are no regular rainy seasons. This arid environment will go for months and sometimes years without rain. Needless to say, this is a hardy bird.

Pet appeal:    Parakeets make very good pets as long as they have a lot of attention and love. These birds are very social by nature. Living in groups of 20 to 40 and sometimes as many as 60 birds in the wild, and don’t like to be left alone. So if you own only one bird and you work 8 hour days, think about possibly getting him a mate or finding someone to at least keep the bird company for part of the time that you are gone. Parakeets make just as good of pets singly or in pairs or more, but make sure that you introduce one bird at a time.
   Parakeets are monogamous so once they find a mate it is usually for life unless of course one of them has an untimely death in which the other would then find a new mate. Parakeets are very good flyers. In the wild they fly back and forth across vast regions searching for food and water, so provide them with free flying time and you will have a much happier birds.

Description:    Parakeets come in over 100 color forms but primarily in green (typical in the wild), various shades of blue, opaline, gray, white, yellow (lutino), pied (combination in one bird), and in various shades of these colors, some rarer than others.
   Parakeets are 7" to 9 3/8" in length from the tip of the bill over the head to the tip of the tail. The tail by itself is 3 1/8" to 4 1/2" long. Parakeets weigh anywhere from 1 - 1.4 ounces ( 30-40g). The life expectancy of the average parakeet is 12 to 14 years. They reach sexual maturity at 3 to 4 months. By this time they have there adult plumage which is quite unusual in the bird kingdom.

Care and feeding:    Ready made staple seed mixes are usually available at your local pet store or super market which contains a mixture of canary grass seed, white millet, yellow millet, oats and groats and red millet, niger seed and linseed. Some higher quality seed mixtures come with thistle, anise, rape, sesame, and safflower seed. Vitamin pellets with iodine in them are sometimes present to prevent thyroid problems. Store seed in a dark but airy place. Not in plastic bags but in a clothes bag in a closet. Offer fresh foods such as eggplant, green peas, cucumber, young dandelion greens, sweet corn, beet greens, carrots, unsprayed lettuce, green peppers, sorrel, spinach leaves, tomatoes and zucchini. Fruits that are suitable are: Pineapples, apples, apricots, bananas, most other fruits.
   Food that is bad for birds includes: All members of the cabbage family, raw and green potatoes, green beans, grapefruit, rhubarb, plums, lemons, avocado.
   Parakeets also need a mineral block and a cuttlebone in their cage. These provide all the minerals and trace elements that they need. Offer spray millet every so often as a treat. And of course fresh water daily.

Housing:    Provide a roomy cage with the minimum dimensions of: 20" long x 12" deep x 18" high. The ideal size is: 40" long x 20" deep x 32" high. Preferably a cage with horizontal bars to make climbing easier. You can also attach a perch/play area on top of the cage. In the cage have about three perches of different diameters (or branches with some angling) without the sandpaper guards. A swing and mirror among other toys are available but be sure to leave enough room for flying! Food and water dishes, preferably automatic dispensing, or if not, ones with guards to prevent waste contamination. Clips to hold spray millet and fresh food. A bath house with a textured bottom is a favorite, or a slow running faucet will do. Provide a breeding box if breeding is what you have in mind.

Maintenance:    The basic cage care includes daily cleaning of the water and food dishes. Weekly you should wash all the perches and dirty toys, and the floor should be washed about every other week. A total hosing down and disinfecting of an aviary should be done yearly, replacing anything that needs to be freshened, such as old dishes, toys and perches.

Handling and training:    Take it slow at first and let the parakeet get used to you and its new surroundings before trying to get him to go onto your finger. Allow flying time and don’t worry about catching him to put him back into the cage, leave the cage door open and sooner or later he will get hungry. After a while curiosity will overcome fear and training can begin.
   Most but not all parakeets have the inclination to talk, be repetitive and patient.

Activities:
   Free flying time is very important. Try to offer several hours a day in a bird safe room. A bird tree ( this can be made by wiring branches together into a tree or surrounding a tall house plant with perches, not poisonous of course), is very useful. Set it across the room from the cage, so that they fly back and forth. This will provide them with ample exercise.

Breeding:    The male parakeet's cere is blue and the female’s is tan or light yellow. The "cere" is the area located at the base of the beak, just below the forehead or crown area. It is where the two nostril type openings (nares) are also located. There are a few exceptions, but for the most part this coloration is fairly accurate. In young parakeets, under 3 months, it is pale pink to tanish but changes after sexual maturity.
   If a pair of parakeets are ready to mate they will court one another first by playing and then feeding each other. The male then attempts a balancing act on the females back and lowers his tail under hers till the vents connect.
   The female picks the nesting sight and lays her eggs, one or two every other day, for a total of 4 to 6 eggs in a clutch. Incubation is 18 days but the hen will remain on the nest till the chicks start to get feather’s. Separate the nesting hen from the other parakeets. Nesting material is not necessary till after the chicks hatch then you can cover the bottom of the box with pine shavings, never saw dust. Be sure that the hen is feeding the young and if not, hand rearing may be necessary.

Potential Problems:    The most common would be a parakeet plucking out its own feathers. This is usually caused from loneliness and boredom. Another problem is if the leg band is too tight then a veterinarian will have to remove it. If taken care of, the parakeet is a hardy pet well worth the money and effort!

Availability: Budgies are readily available and inexpensive.

Author: Clarice Brough, CAS

Lastest Comments on Budgerigars - Parakeets View all 636 comments on Budgerigars - Parakeets Add Your Comment

Ronnie - 2012-05-24 lovely, amazing, fantastic. recreative Reply

Deb - 2012-05-23 Found a budgie this evening picking at seeds in my chicken pen after chickens had gone to roost in barn. She seems healthy and really tame, walked onto my hand for some seeds, and stayed in the pen although she could have flown out. She was still there at dusk, so I set up a perch in a ventilated cat carrier with some seed and water, and brought her into the barn for the night to keep her safe from predators. Called some neighbors to see if anyone lost a budgie but no one knows. So what do I do now? Want to do the right thing by her. Can budgies live in this climate? I'm on Long Island, New York. Any help much appreciated!!! Charlie Roche - 2012-05-24 A budgie won't do to well living outside in Long Island as just gets too cold and sometimes too hot in the summer. Of course inside the home the little budgie will do just ine. Possibly this little fella escaped from someone's home bu it is very doubful you would be able to find the owner. If you placed an ad in the paper, you could have 50 responces. Possibly the owner will place and ad under LOST pets and then you can call them. You can keep the budgie and get a cage and bring him inside. You can find a home for the little fella or you can take him to a parrot sanctuary. They are fun, make excellent pets and this one sounds like he likes you pretty well. Reply

She D. Layosa - 2012-05-21 Can some pls help me with my budgie. Everytime she lays her egg she always throw it outside what will i do to stop this. Does my female budgie having a behavioral problem? am so pity with those eggs she lay:( Charlie Roche - 2012-05-21 She obviously doesn't want kids. Seriously, you don't want her doing that. Next time she lays an egg - remove the egg and put a heavy egg looking object in the nest. They have fake eggs for birds but possibly a hard boiled egg would work. You don't want her to keep laying eggs. Another thought is where is she laying the eggs? She needs a nest box - whether the eggs are furtile or not. Be a lot harder to throw the eggs out that way also. Not a behavioral problem as much as a has no idea what she is doing problem. Reply

Jim - 2012-05-18 Our parakeets were given to us and they do not fly around. We've tried to be patient and all but after the one guy actually bit my finger while I was trying to put him in his cage they don't want to go out of their cage(s). They LOVE celery and the younger ones love the leafy part while the older one loves the stalk. Every time I reach in slowly to change their food/water they fly around like like I'm going to grab them. I do not want then to have a heart attack. Charlie Roche - 2012-05-19 You can get them a small flight cage where you change the food and water from the outside. Jim - 2012-05-19 I was looking at small flight cages and saw they were 24 X16 X16 and the cage we have is 18 X16 X16 and didn't want to handle the birds to change cages because of fear of them having some heart attack. Reply

haleybug - 2012-05-06 Can anyone help me my female budgie is trying to mate with my male but he won't. Then a couple of weeks ago they were doing a mating dance and if I put her in the nesting box or a nice space she will sit in the corner and if I try to get close to she will attack me! Will anyone help me Charlie Roche - 2012-05-06 He will mate when he is ready - as will she. They go through a few practice runs and trial and errors but eventually they get it right. When you place the female in her nest box or she is just in it - it is her territory and she knows it. She will protect it and pretty much attack whatever comes near it. Mom instincts there. Steven Bradley - 2012-05-12 It isn't necessary to put your parakeet in the nest box. If it is attached to the outside of the cage, or correctly placed inside the cage, she should immediately become curious, and in my experience, will enter it within a few minutes. Expect to be scolded and even attacked when you peek inside, or try to handle her while she is in the nest. As to breeding, that MUST be left to the birds. They may never breed. Occasionally they just don't like one another, and nothing will happen. Reply

gms - 2012-05-10 Letting a young budgie out of the cage within a day or so of getting it wasn't wise. The best thing you can do is ensure the bird is safe and leave the cage open and free to get to with clean food and water. Nature will take its course. (as was mentioned) As for parakeet behaviour if this is persistent they may be being traumatised by anything from cats, rats, dogs, kids and other birds with access to the cages make sure this is not happening, if they cant feel secure in their own home it may be time to have a look at something. Pretty much all creatures respond to baby talk well as it is none threatening and easer to convey intent. Birds are very small and you are very large so when approaching its always good to talk and in an none threatening way. Doorways and other locations where people and pets suddenly appear out of nowhere are not good locations for birds in a new environment or in general. If these dont help then take your bird to the vet. If it is healthy you might just have to settle with your pet not being as friendly as you would like. Be patient they will come around if you do often and in a talkative non threatening way. Charlie Roche - 2012-05-11 All things need a safe place to be - pets, children included. Reply

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