Sunny Hollow Aviaries, Minnesota

Welcome to the Budgie Information page.  Here you will find information regarding Budgies in the wild, Budgies in Captivity, a captive Budgie's suggested diet, disease information relating to captive Budgies and of course; Budgie mutation information.
For any other information, like information the pertains to Budgie housing, grooming, toys & sleep requirements, please visit our Parrot Care page.

*Please bear with us while this page is under construction-- We're working on gathering all new pictures for our IMPROVED Budgerigar Info page!*

To easily Navigate through this page, please use the provided menu, below:

Budgies in the Wild
Budgies in Captivity
Budgie Diet
Budgie Diseases
Identifying Genders
Budgie Color Basics

For any other information, like information that pertains to Budgie housing, grooming, toys & sleep requirements, please visit our Parrot Care.

This section will be all about Budgies in the wild, since we all know that replicating their natural instincts and behaviors will help us better our understanding of Budgies and how to care for them in captivity.

The Budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus) is the only member of the genus.  Originating from mainly the interior of Australia, they congregate in large flocks.  The flock movements are based upon the availability of water and seed.  They are seen out of their normal range, in the more wooded areas during times of drought. 

They are mostly active during the early morning hours, and late evening hours.  During the heat of the day, they usually stay sheltered in trees and bushes, seemingly to conserve moisture.  But when they are most active, early morning & late afternoon, they spend that time visiting drinking holes, scurrying from tree to tree and foraging for seeds in the grass. 

Their natural diet consists mainly of grass seeds, including spinifex, weed seeds and sometimes ripening wheat.  They do not bathe like other birds, but they like to roll around in soaking wet, long clean grass.  They also occasionally feed on nuts, insects, fruit and bark from the Eucalyptus tree.

Their breeding season is of their natural home's spring and summer, which is October through December.  The average clutch is 5-6 eggs, the hen will start to brood from the first egg; the rest of the eggs are laid on a one-every-other-day basis.  The incubation time is 17-18 days, the hen alone will brood while the male regurgitates to them.  The young are ready to fledge about 30 days after being hatched.  About a week or two after which, they are usually weaned and ready to fend for themselves.  

Being very nomadic, like most all other parrots, Budgies can see in Ultra Violet.  The blue circle on the cheeks of Budgies (Predominant on Males) right above the two smaller black circles glows in a UV light. (If you have a pet Budgie, shine a black light on your Budgies; and it should glow very bright.  This will work better on a more nominate Budgie)  Females are said to choose their mates by how bright the cheek patch glows.

Notice the cheek patches on the male Budgie (left).  These glow brightly in UV light, but are said to be more obvious on nominate (Normal Budgies found in the wild) than mutated Budgies (Which is what the Blue Budgie is).

Budgies, as with most parrot species, nest in hollowed out cavities in trees. 

Another interesting thing to note about Budgies, is they can seemingly sense that it is raining, miles and miles away from where they are during a time of drought, enabling them to fly directly there, to a fresh, lush area and start over.

Natural enemies of the Budgie include snakes, the Butcher Bird, hawks, falcons.  Snakes slither into their nests to gobble up newborns, as does the Butcher Bird.  Hawks and falcons catch Budgies mid-flight with their sharp talons.  But the most prolific natural enemy of the Budgies is often nature itself.. During droughts, thousands of these birds die off.  In 1932, especially, conditions were far more savage than usual in what became known as "The Great Bird Holocaust."  A drought combined with a heat wave made it impossible to find food or water.  Entire flocks lost their lives.  When they finally found some water, Budgies would swoop down for a drink and be drowned as the weight of birds behind them pushed them under.  It was reported that millions of Budgies died during that time alone.

Since then, Budgies have become prolific breeders, trying to repopulate the lost numbers during that drought.  However, industrialization has taken much of their natural habitat, but luckily they have managed to do with it as they can.  They are not yet endangered, but soon will be as they are loosing their habitat at an unreal speed.

The name 'Budgerigar' comes from the Australian aboriginal word "betcherrygah," which means "good food."  From this, it was discovered that hundreds of years ago, the native people would eat Budgies.  They were often tied to a stick, roasted and considered a delicacy.

Fortunately for the Budgies, they are now the world's most popular companion birds, ranging in many different colors and varieties (See 'Mutations' above, for more info) 

Many refer to them as "Parakeets," which is only slightly correct.  "Parakeet" just means "long tailed parrot" and refers to any of the many different Parrots that have long, flat tails; like the Alexandrine, Ringneck, Plum headed, Moustache, Quaker, Carolina, etc.  So calling these birds "Parakeets" is not really narrowing it down, by any means.

Budgies are a common "first bird."  Many parents buy these birds for small children "instead of" a dog, thinking that dogs are too expensive and that Budgies are more of a 'temporary' pet than a dog; requiring less of the child's time; because it does not need to be walked, let outside to do it's business, and best of all; it can be locked in a cage for the 10+ years that it lives if the child gets bored with it.  It has relatively easy cleanup, and it can "talk."  If this is why you're wanting a Budgie, please go elsewhere. 

Budgies live 10-14 years, if cared for properly (If you buy a Budgie, only for the child to lock it in it's prison or have it fly away, I have not done my job in educating you well enough BEFORE you decided to add a parrot to your house.)  Please understand that Budgies are highly social, intelligent, long lived, amazing creatures that require as much of your time or more of your time.  Sure, they don't need to be walked; but they have the intelligence far beyond that of a dog or cat.  This requires quite a bit of mental stimulation to keep it a happy, well-adjusted parrot in your household.  They need a variety of toys, (Please visit my 'Reccomendations" page for more info on required variety of toys) lots and lots of your time for one-on-one contact to fullfill their needs socially, as well as mentally.  Many parrots have the intelligence of 3 year old children.  Imagine locking a 3 year old child in a cage with a few toys everyday, all day.  That's absolutely animal abuse.

But don't be overwhelmed; Budgie ownership is very rewarding for those who are truly in it for the right reasons!  They are very fun, social creatures that just love being near you.

It should also be noted that females are typically the dominant of the two sexes.  If you house a female with a male, you should watch carefully or provide more than one food dish in the cage, as the female may not allow the male to eat from it.  Other than that, there is typically no difference between the males and the females when it comes to pet quality.  They are not sexually dimorphic, except for their ceres, so the females will be just as vibrant and beautifully colored as the males.  (Mutations will vary, of course, but generally speaking, females will not be a duller color than males due to 'attracting a mate in the wild,' since as mentioned above, the males attract the females by their ultra violet cheek patches.)

Budgie Diet is outlined in the "Parrot Care" page on this site, but will be further delved into on this page.  Budgies do not do well on an all seed diet,  not only because seeds are basically pure fat & carbohydrates, and provide little to nothing for them in the way of nutrition; but also because Budgies tend to be more suseptible to obesity, fatty liver disease, etc.  They also do not do well on an all pelleted diet, since pellets are too rich in nutrition for their systems.
Instead, the best diet for your captive Budgie would be "live" sprout seeds, supplemented with (preferably organic) vegetables; such as Cucumbers, Carrots, Broccli, fresh sprouts, kale, etc.  Seeds like hulled Safflower seeds, canary seed, hemp seed, etc. should still be fed as the fats can be beneficial, but in moderation.  I usually provide the seeds as treats and make them work for them via foraging.  This stimulated them mentally as well as burns off some energy whilst searching for the seeds/treats.
Spirulina is said to be the healthiest plant matter on the earth for all creatures.  Thus, many people will feed pure Spirulina (powder) to their birds.  I find it it be a nice supplement, and when fed in moderation; beneficial.  Others say that it is too nutritious and can cause toe tapping, among other nutrition-related behaviors.  For this, I would assume that you first look to where your bird originated and what they eat naturally, coupled with how much energy they burn on a daily basis and judge for yourself, the actual nutritional supplements required.
Spirulina, as well as fresh "live" sprout seeds can be found at any local health food store.
To feed live sprout seeds, you can either soak them over night, which helps to activate the nutritional benefits of the seed, and feed the very next day.  Or you can not soak, and feed as is.  It is said that you can feed either way; but no matter which you choose, to soak a few seeds over night, about once a week, and if they do not sprout, you do not have a fresh batch, and it will do little for your birds as far as nutrition is concerned.
Also, it is said that mature adult Budgies are among the hardest specie of parrot to convert from a seed only diet.  They are stubborn, and will typically ignore any new foods offered, and it is easier to convert them if they are in a "colony" setting.

Budgies are most suseptible to Goiters, Fatty Liver disease, Scaley Leg/Face, Polyoma Virus, Psittacine Beak & Feather Disease (PBFD), Protozoal Parasites (Giardia & Coccidiosis), Psittacosis (Chlamydophila) & Avian gastric yeast.

To keep your bird healthy, the bird must be on a balanced diet and allowed proper excersize.

The easiest way to tell a male Budgie from a female is to look at the cere.  The cere is at the top of the birds' beak, the keratin tissue surrounding the nostrils.  A male Budgie's cere will be a bright blue, whereas a female's will be a tan/brown color.

The exception to this, is in immature Budgies, where the ceres will almost always look the same.  They will be pinkish with a noticable tint of blue.  This is also true with female Budgies that are not in breeding condition.  (During breeding season, the female's cere will fade to the brown/tan)

So it is easiest to sex a Budgie that is 9-12 months old, to be 100% sure; since immature Budgie's ceres will often times be the same color in males and females.

    

Female Budgie, not in breeding condition                          Male Budgie

If you've ever wondered why there are so many varieties and colors of Budgies to choose from, and would like a little help in distinguishing the differences and what they're called; you've come to the right page.  A little bit of patience, and you'll be able to know the varieties of most the Budgies you see in pet stores.

Firstly, we will cover nominate and mutated Budgies.  When a parrot's visual color is the color most often found in the wild, we call this it's "nominate" color.  This would mean that a "yellow based" (Budgie that looks green) is a nominate Budige, since this is the color they most often are found in the wild.  Nominate birds are often showing the genetically dominant color.  When a bird is showing a recessive color gene, they will be a color not often found in the wild, and refered to as a "mutation" of the species, or a "mutated" bird.  This would mean that a "white based" (Budgie that looks blue) is a mutated version of the Budgie.  All other variations of mutations in captive Aviculture, such as Opaline, Cinnamon, Albino, Lutino, Spangled, Cleargflight, etc. are mutated recessive genes. 

  

The picture to the left potrays a "Nominate" Green Budgie, while to the right, is the common counterpart "Mutation" of which; the Blue Budgie.

Apart from the most common mutation, the above pictured Blue Budgie; there are over a hundred other various mutations of the Budgie.  These mutations are not common in the wild, but do happen.  The mutations seen in Pet stores are often the result of captive bred Budgies. 

Since there are SO many, they have been organized into different categories.  Firstly, there is the Coloration Mutations.  These apply to the colors the Budgie.  "Colors" are the main 'background' color of the bird, NOT the black striping patterns on wings, back & head as later mentioned. 

Base Color: Budgies fall into one of the two basic Base Color varieties.  These are, Yellow & White.  Yellow based Budgies have yellow pigment, which makes them appear bright green.  White based Budgies lack this yellow pigment, making them appear bright blue.  Typically, body feathers are structured to reflect blue.  Yellow based Budgies' pigment combined with the reflecting of blue causes them to look bright green.  Since White based Budgies lack the yellow pigment, they are just blue and white.  [Yellow base=Dominant Gene |White base= Recessive Gene]

Dark Factor: All Budgies have a level of 'dark factor,' ranging from no dark factor, one dark factor to two dark factors.  Nominate Budgies have no dark factor.  A "dark factor" basically just darkens the body feathers of the bird, taking; for example; a Sky blue Budgie and Cobalt Blue Budgie.  Both are a White Based Budgie, but a Sky Blue is a shade lighter than a Cobalt.  Hence, the Cobalt has one dark factor, whereas a Sky Blue has no dark factor.  A Budgie with 2 Dark Factors results in a "mauve" variety.

           

Budgie in the front is Sky Blue-No D.F.                                      Mauve Budgie-2 D.F.  (Notice how he looks grey)

Budgie in back is Cobalt Blue-1 D.F.

Dark Factors in Yellow based Budgies are as follows:  Light Green-Dark Green-Olive

 

Light Green- No D.F.                         Dark Green- 1 D.F.                                Olive Green- 2 D.F.

 

 

There are two more factors that add color to the previously stated colors.  Grey factor & Violet Factor.

Grey Factor: Budgies that have a Grey Factor have the color grey added to their body color.  The grey factor can affect both yellow and white based Budgies.  Yellow based Budgies of any amount of Dark Factors will be a grey-green color.  White based Budgies of any amount of Dark Factors will be grey.

Budgie to the left is a Yellow based with Grey factor*, while Budgie to the right is a White based with grey factor. 

(*=Remember to ignore the wing colorations, or lack thereof, as this is only reffering to the main background body color.  These colorations can appear on just about all Budgie mutations.)

Violet Factor: Violet Factored Budgies can be harder to distinguish than grey factored birds. True violet only shows up on Cobalt Blue Budgies, or double Violet factor shows up on Sky Blue Budgies.  It is very hard to tell if Yellow based Budgies carry the violet factor, since the violet darkens the body feathers alot like a dark factor.  It is also very hard to see a violet factor in Mauve Budgies.

This is a Violet factored Budgie with the Cobalt base color.  The true violet variety.

Dilution: About the opposite of a Dark Factor, a Budgie's colors can also be Diluted to a degree. There are 4 categories of Diluted Budgies.

• GreyWing: Grey markings on head and wings instead of black, with 50% of body feather color diluted or appearing "washed out."
• Full Body Color Greywing: Same grey markings of a Greywing, but the colors are not diluted or "washed out."
• ClearWing: Little to no markings on head and wings, and body color is brighter
• Dilute: Head and body markings are very light, and about 80% of body feather color is faded or appearing "washed out."

GreyWing                                

Yellowface: These types of Budgies are inbetween Yellow & White based Budgies, resulting in a White based Budgie with a yellow face. A Budgie can have more or less yellow face-coloring depending on the degree in which the bird is 'yellowfaced.'  They go by Type I and Type II.  Type II are have more yellow on their face than Type I, and their body color appears a more seafoam green/blue than Type I.

Lutino/Albino: Lutino & Albino erases ALL color from the Budgie, leaving only the base color.  Budgies that are PURE yellow, or PURE white with red eyes and pink cere are Lutino & Albino.  (Lutino being all yellow, Albino being all white)

 

             Lutino                                           Albino

Another category of mutation is the Striping Pattern Mutations, which are also important in knowing what "mutation" your bird is of.  They refer to the stripe pattern that your bird shows on it's head, neck, back and wings.  Nominate Budgies (Scroll up to look at the picture of a Nominate Budgie) have thin, black, densely placed stripes down their head, neck, back and have evenly identical patterns on their wings.  Striping patterns are genes that reconfigure the spacing, thickness, contrast and patterns of the black stripes you see on nominate Budgies, that include:

Opaline: This striping pattern reduces the thickness of the stripes on the birds' head into thin black stripes that are spaced farther apart from those of a Nominate Budgie.  Also, the main body color (Not the birds' base color) fades up the birds' back and dissipates at the nape of the birds' neck, and doing the same down the wing feathers, making it a particularily beautiful mutation.  Opaline Budgie's tail feathers have light and dark colors running down their tail feathers.

Spangle:  Spangled is a mutation in which the markings on the tail & wings are reversed from that of a nominate Budgie.  On the wings, instead of the usual black, thicker markings with white tips; there is thinner stripes with the bird's base color in between where the black would normally be. 

Let it be known, also, that there can be a variety of Opaline Spangled.  That mutation will have the bird's main body feather (not base color) will replace the black markings on the wings, so that it will be a pattern of either blue and white on the wings, or yellow and green.

Cinnamon: This mutation causes the normally black stripes/markings on the head and wings of the bird to be brown.  This mutation does not usually affect the color of the bird's body feathers.

The ever popular Pied Mutations.  Pied mutations affect the amount of markings a bird has, clear spots on the back of the birds' heads, wether or not you can tell the sex of your Budgie by the cere and much more to be explained here.

Starting, of course, with the:

Dominant Pied:  This mutation is usually very distinct.  There is always a band of clear body feathers across the lower-mid belly, which can be very large, taking up most of the birds' belly.  It can also be irregular, not completing a complete band around the birds' mid section.  It can also cause a clear band across either the lower section of the wing feathers or take up the entire wing, leaving no markings; but the bird's base color. 

Another example of Dominant Pieds (left) in both Yellow Based & White Based.

There is also the Double Factor Dominant Pied, which leaves the bird almost completely clear of all markings.  The key factor in telling the difference between a Double Factor Dominant Pied and a Recessive Pied is that Dominant Pieds' irises will brighten as they age.

These Double Factor Dominant Pied Budgies can be mistaken for Recessive Pieds, except that their irises will brighten with age, they usually have their body color on their lower back, above their tails and they lack the distinguishable lower-belly color spot.

 

Recessive Pied: Almost identical to the Double Factor Dominant Pied, except their irises DO NOT brighten as they age, and they almost always have a bit of their body color on their lower belly.  Their wings may vary from having a lot to no markings on the wings, and they typically only have just a few markings on the head, near the eyes and top of the head.  They almost always have a distinguishable lower-belly colored spot.