How to Live with a Budgie
What to Know About Your Budgie
Budgies (short for budgerigars or sometimes called parakeets) have long been favored as pet birds because of their small size, pleasant personalities, potential vocabulary, and ease of incorporating them into family life. Although many colors and other variants have been developed, the common free-ranging green budgie, as it lives in the Australian outback, is probably the most heathy and long-lived.
Budgies are easy to tame and enjoy time and attention from family members. Surprisingly, they have an extraordinary ability to mimic; one individual is reported to speak over 200 words. Unfortunately, they suffer from some diseases that are particularly common in budgies, especially in mutations: tumors of internal organs, egg-binding, obesity, feather disorders and parasites.
Is My Budgie a Boy or Girl?
Check out the cere (which is the plump tissue above the beak) for a general indication of gender: it is usually blue in a male and pinkish brown in the female. However, this differentiation is only applicable to normal green budgies and may not be accurate in color mutations or if the bird is going through hormonal changes.
How to Keep Your Budgie Happy
Budgies are playful and enjoy a variety of safe toys. Because they like to chew, small branches from nontoxic trees may be helpful to include in their enclosure. Many families enjoy free-flying budgies in their protected home.