INTRODUCTION

The Budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus), (parakeet, shell parakeet, budgerigah, budgie, or common pet parakeet in US English) is a small parrot and the only species in the Australian genus Melopsittacus. A small long-tailed predominantly green and yellow bird with black scalloped markings on the wings and shoulders in the wild, the Budgerigar has been bred extensively with a profusion of colour forms resulting. Thus, aviary birds may be blue and white, all yellow, all white, or various other combinations thereof. Some have even been bred with small crests. In the wild, it is a predominantly seed-eating species. The budgerigar is found throughout the drier parts of Australia and has survived for the last five million years in the harsh inland conditions of that continent.

The budgerigar is closely related to the lories and the fig parrots. Although budgerigars are often, especially in American English, called Parakeets, this term refers to any of a number of small parrots with long flat tails.

ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY

Budgerigars in their natural-habitats of Australia average 18 cm (7 in) long, weigh 30-40 grams, and display a light green body colour (abdomen and rumps), while their mantle (back and wing coverts) display pitch-black mantle markings (blackish in fledgelings and immatures) edged in clear yellow undulations. The forehead and face is yellow in adults but with blackish stripes down to the cere in young individuals until they change into their adult plumage around 3–4 months of age. They display small purple patches (called cheek patches) and a series of 3 black spots across each sides of their throats (called throat-spots) of which the 2 outermost throat-spots are situated at the base of each cheek-patches. The tail is cobalt (dark-blue); outside tail feathers display central yellow flashes. Their wings have greenish-black flight feathers and black coverts with yellow fringes along with central yellow flashes which only becomes visible in flight and/or when the wings are stretched. Bills are olive grey and legs blueish-grey, with zygodactyl toes.

Budgerigars in their natural habitat in Australia are noticeably smaller than those in captivity. This particular parrot species has been bred in many other colours and shades in captivity (i.e. blue, grey, greygreen, pieds, violet, white, yellow...) although they are mostly found in pet stores in blue, green and yellow. Budgerigar plumage is known to fluoresce under ultraviolet light (as most other parrot species do as well), a phenomenon possibly related to courtship and mate selection.

SEXING

The simplest way to tell if your budgie is male or female is to look at the cere (the bit above it's beak) and see what colour it is.

The colour of the cere (the area containing the nostrils) differs between the sexes; royal blue in males, pale-brown to white (non-breeding) or brown (breeding) in females and pink in immatures of both sexes (usually of a more even purplish-pink colour in young males). Some female budgerigars develop brown cere only during breeding time and it later disappears. Young females can often be identified by a subtle chalky whiteness that starts around the cere nostril holes. Males that are either Albino, Dark-Eyed-Clear, Lutino and/or recessive pied (aka Danishpied aka Harlequin) always retain the immature purplish-pink cere colour their entire life

It is usually easy to tell the sex of a Budgie over 6 months old, mainly by the cere colours but behaviours and head shape also help indicate Budgie's genders.

Most of the time, a young female will have a pale blue cere with white rings around the nostrils whereas a young males will be a purple-pinkish colour.

Adults are a little different. An adult male budgerigar will have a blue cere and the female will have an almost white cere with a hint of blue.

Then of course there's the ones that are in breeding condition. Here a females cere will start going brown when she's coming into season, and dark dark brown just as she's coming out of it, whilst a male budgies cere will get a vibrant royal blue for the whole breeding season.

Are you confused yet? The pictures should help you with that confusion.

CAGE REQUIREMENTS

Budgerigars are small but are very active, energetic, and lively birds. The absolute minimum size cage for one or two tame pet budgerigars who are allowed out for several hours a day is 18 inches (46 cm) long by 18 inches wide[citation needed]. However, larger cages and flights will be appreciated by these energetic little birds. An ideal cage is longer than higher (since birds fly horizontally like planes and not vertically like helicopters) and would be at least 30 inches (76 cm) long. The cage should not have bar spacing greater than 1/2 inch between bars. Budgerigars are not particularly destructive birds, and spacious cages, while not always easy to find, are usually not overly expensive.

Care should be taken when placing several female budgerigars together, as they can do serious harm to one another if they do not get along. It is easier and often more convenient to keep either along with each other without any problem. They are relatively easily tamed and bred.

BREEDING

Breeding Condition
The breeding pair must be in condition to breed before placed in a breeding situation. With cocks, the cere should be bright, the bird should have no illness, and the bird will be more active and pay attention to other birds. Cocks should be 10 months old before breeding, and no more than 6 years old. With the hen, the cere should be a rich chocolate brown and there should be no illness. Hens should be a year old before breeding, and no more than 4 years old.

Nests
The nesting box and cabinet should be cleaned, and anti-vermin powder used to prevent parasites. Grit can be used on the bottom of the cabinet, and all the usual diet requirements provided. The birds can also be dipped for lice and mite prevention. Perches should be secure and not roll, and provided there are no problems, eggs will appear in 10 to 20 days. Eggs are laid 2 days apart, the average clutch being about 5 eggs. Incubation will start once the second egg is laid.

Records
Accurate records are important when breeding. Records of the dates eggs were laid and expected hatching dates should be calculated. Eggs should be numbered using a non-toxic marker or pencil. A rough record should be kept near the nest for quick reference, after the breeding season this can be transcribed to a permanent record. The hatching dates should be recorded, and from this a record should be drawn up for each of your birds. This should contain the birth date, the parents, a description, the ring number and any breeding or other information about the bird that you can use. A separate record system for breeding pairs should be kept to show the breeding success of a pair. This should contain the clutch size, fertility rate, hatching rate and chick numbers for each clutch.
Programs available to keep bird records includeBirdData and Bird Basics.

Hatching
The first egg will hatch after 19 days, the others after 17. This means the first two chicks will hatch together, with the others coming at 2 day intervals after this. Some eggs will take longer than this, some less. It is simply a matter of watching the eggs that are due, and if the egg becomes discoloured, helping the chick to hatch. If the egg has not hatched after 18 days, and the egg is becoming blue-grey in colour, assistance should be given. Working at the larger end of the egg, where there is an air bubble, carefully push your fingernail under the egg surface and remove some of the shell. Expose the head of the chick, being careful that it does not drown in blood. This will be enough to allow the chick to hatch. Do not remove it from the shell, place the egg back in the nest with the chick's head out of the egg. If the chick is fully developed it will survive, but if there is still some yellow yolk visible on the stomach of the chick you have acted too soon and the chick will die. Always wait until the time seems excessive and there is obvious signs of bruising to the egg before acting.

Normally the chick will hatch on it's own, by making small cracks around the top of the egg and then pushing the top off. Once the first chicks in the nest have hatched it is important to make sure the other eggs are getting enough warmth. Allow the first three or four eggs to hatch, then farm out the last eggs or the first chicks to a foster pair to give the last eggs a better chance to hatch. Make sure that if you mix up the chicks or eggs from different nests you can identify them at a later stage. Eggs should be labelled, while chicks should be identifiable once their variety shows.

Feathering
The chicks will develop down feathers in a week, and permanent feathers will begin to grow in three weeks. Once the permanent feathers are growing, the droppings in the nest box can be replaced with seed for the chicks to learn how to eat. Do not clean out the droppings with chicks in the nest without replacing it with seed, as the droppings help to keep the chicks warm.

Emerging Chicks
Young birds will leave the nest at four to five weeks old. Any chicks that leave the nest before this should be returned to the box. Once the young are able to crack seed for themselves they should be removed from the parents and placed in the young bird cabinet. This allows them to be protected from the elements longer while keeping them away from parents that may savage them for staying in the breeding cabinet too long. The young bird cabinet should contain plenty of perches and be located near to human activity to allow the chicks to get used to people. Chicks should stay in the cabinet until they can withstand any changes in the elements, and they have developed the strength to fly properly.