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Budgies

Written by Deb White . Posted in Parrot Species

pic budgies3pic budgie flightBudgies are probably the most popular small pet birds and they make great pets for kids because of their intelligence and playful, social nature. Budgie is short for Budgerigar. They are also called parakeets.

Budgies can be very good talkers. Their chirps are very pleasant and not too noisy. Budgies have a strong instinct to chew and should be provided with destructible toys to satisfy this need and to keep their beaks trimmed. Hand fed budgies enjoy interacting with humans. Tame budgies, especially males, often learn to talk.

Budgies come in a wide variety of colors, but the budgies in the wild are mostly green and yellow providing them with very good camouflage.

Budgies are small parrots with long, flat tails. You can often tell the sex of a budgie by looking at their cere (the nostril area). The cere is blue for mature males and it is pale brown for females. When they are babies, both the male and female budgies have pinkish ceres.

 

budgie mapBudgies are native to Australia.

The budgies' habitat is characterized by open woodland and grassland. Budgies move from area to area as the seasons and the availability of food change.

In the wild, budgies live in small flocks that sometimes combine into very large flocks. Several thousand budgies have been observed together at watering holes! (Check out our video)

Budgies breed when the food supply is plentiful. They build their nests in tree holes and usually lay four to six eggs. The female sits on the eggs while the male gathers food, eats it, and returns to the nest. He then regurgitates the food to feed the female.

The budgies' diet in the wild consists mainly of grass seeds. However, in captivity, budgies should be fed seeds and pellets, plus a variety of leafy greens, vegetables, fruits, sprouts, whole grains and legumes.

 

 

Video credit: National Geographic

 

Listen to Budgies in the wild:

 
Melopsittacus undulatus
© 2015 Cornell University

View a video of Budgies hanging out near their nest:

Video credit: World Parrot Trust

View a video of a huge flock of Budgies taking a drink while successfully avoiding a falcon:

Video credit: Earthflight

To see more pictures and obtain information about budgies click on the links below:

Common Name

Origin

Genus/Species

Budgerigar,Budgie, Parakeet, Shell Parakeet

Australia

Melopsittacus undulatus

 

Life Span:

8 - 15 yrs.

Length:

7 - 9" (18 - 23cm)

Weight:

0.9 - 1.1 oz. (26 - 30 grams

To learn more about Budgies click here

 pic budgie rev

View a BBC video of a flock of Budgies:

Video credit: BBC
  • A budgie named Puck holds the world record for the largest vocabulary of any bird (1728 words)! His record is listed in the 1995 edition of Guinness World Records.
  • Sparkie the Budgie was famous in England in the 1950's. He could recite ten rhymes, 383 sentences and 531 words, and he even had a record that sold all over the world!
  • Budgies poop every twelve to fifteen minutes!
  • Did you know that some budgies have fluorescent feathers? Check out this video:

  • The 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy owned two parakeets named "Bluebell" and Marybelle"
  • The scientific name for budgies, Melopsittacus, means pretty" sounding (mellow) parrot" in Latin.
  • The name Budgerigar came from the aboriginal Australian word "betchegara" which mean "good food."
  • Budgies have been honored by Australia and Poland on postal stamps:
stamp Budgie stamp Budgie2

(source: bird-stamps.org)
 

 

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