The photo below is of a mother Bourke and her two young. It was sent to us by Melissa K. Upon first glance, I wondered which was the mother. Then it became obvious. Look at the length of their tails. Young Bourke tails are shorter than their parents'. Although it won't be long before they reach the same length.
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| Three beautiful Bourkes. Mother in front is a Normal. She hatched both a Normal and a Rosy baby. Photo by reader, Melissa K. |
I've posted before about how to identify young Budgerigar parakeets, but haven't said anything about young Bourkes. Short tail feathers are an indication, but that doesn't last long. Chances are, by the time you see one for sale, its tail will already be as long as any mature Bourke.
The color of a Budgie's cere (nose) stays light much longer. I've posted about Budgie cere color changes already, but a Bourke's cere does not indicate age or sex like a Budgie's will.
In a mature Normal Bourke, a tiny line of blue feathers over the cere indicates the sex is male, but this isn't likely to be present on a Rosy Bourke. It also isn't present in very young Normal Bourkes.
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| Some of my hand fed young Opaline Pink or Rosy Bourkes. |
I'm still trying to get movies from my new Christmas camera downloaded to the computer in such a way that they can be uploaded onto this site. Upgrading computer, etc. Coming soon (I hope) illustrative videos of our sweet birds.
Peace and Blessings.
Hi Gail, Thanks for posting the photo of my bourke's parakeet family! There is a difference in the normal baby because he/she has dark grey feet. The parents and baby rosy all have pink feet. In fact, I never noticed how pink the feet were of the normal parents. I wonder if those pink feet in the normals could be a sign that they have the rosy gene in them because usually a normal bourke has dark grey feet.
ReplyDeleteThat seems likely to me. I've posted before that baby Bourkes before they feather can usually be recognized as Rosy or Normal by the color of their feet. ;-)
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