Budgie

The original home of the budgerigar is the open landscape of Australia. Melopsittacus undulatus lives there in huge swarms.

Budgies are group animals and have a pronounced social behavior. They are extremely lively and intelligent. Their great vocal rapport and body language are constantly expanding in contact with conspecifics. They are true masters at imitating noises and voices. They also reproduce actively and are sexually mature shortly after birth. The females can breed several times a year at almost any time of the year. Since they are so-called community breeders, several pairs usually breed at the same time.

Wild budgerigars wear the typical green plumage (camouflage plumage). Breeding means that there are now also blue, yellow, or white specimens. A wavy pattern runs on the head and fore-back, which becomes wider and wider towards the wingtips. The face (mask) is mostly light yellow up to the throat. There are four to six black spots (throat spots) on the throat. The birds are around 18 cm tall from head to tail and weigh between 25 and 40 g.

Acquisition and Maintenance

If you want to keep budgerigars in a species-appropriate manner, you must consider the following:

• The birds cannot live alone! They need at least one conspecific with whom they are in constant contact. A group of two, four, or more animals is ideal for keeping them. Half of the number should be males (roosters) and half females (hens).
• They need time to get used to and to become tame.
• You are extremely talkative.
• You are agile and need several free flights a day!
• You can live to a great age.
• They must be provided with fresh food and water every day.
• The cage must be kept clean.

Posture Requirements

The right cage or aviary can’t be big enough for the parakeet, which likes to exercise. Source: Vogelhaltung.de Since they prefer to move in the horizontal area, the length is what matters most. The minimum size for a couple is 100 cm length x 50 cm width x 80 cm height. The device consists of necessary and varied utensils:

• The substrate consists of bird sand, enriched with lime or shell grit. This is an absorbent, disinfectant and provides important minerals for improved digestion of the animals.
• The perches are made of pollutant-free, clean branches/twigs of different thicknesses from fruit trees. These are fun to nibble on and contain minerals that benefit the health of joints, muscles, feet, and short claws.
• A food bowl and drinking water dispenser contain fresh and sufficient food and water every day. The vessels are placed where they cannot get dirty.
• A beak whetstone or a cuttlebone is used by the birds to clean and shape their beaks and to absorb lime.
• A shallow bathing vessel on the floor or a bathing house on the cage wall invites the budgies to bathe.
• Various toys bring fun, variety and stimulate their high intelligence. On ladders, swings, ropes, mirrors, and little bells, the birds can test their enthusiasm for climbing, their curiosity, and their dexterity. To keep the toys interesting, they should be replaced from time to time.
• This also includes the daily cleaning of the cage and the furnishings. No cleaning agent residues should be left behind during cleaning. Leftovers are to be removed, old drinking and bathing water to be renewed. Dirt in the sand must also be removed or the sand must be completely replaced.

Gender Differences

Roosters and hens are difficult to tell apart. Only the so-called cere indicates the sex of the bird. This is the featherless area on the nose above the beak. As a rule, this nasal skin shimmers brown in the hen and blue, violet to pink in the rooster.

Feed and Nutrition

The small parrots need a varied diet that provides them with all the important nutrients and vitamins. An unbalanced diet can not only result in malnutrition or overnutrition. It can also lead to molting disorders, kidney and liver damage, and other diseases.

The commercially available forage contains various types of millet, canary seed, and peeled oats. The daily ratio for an adult bird is about two teaspoons ( 5 g per day ) of food per day. Millet or grain cookies add variety. They can be attached to the cage bars with a clothespin or to the ceiling outdoors.