Budgerigar Parakeets, Adult or Baby Budgie Identification



Adult Male Budgie



Very Young Budgie

Compare these two photos for an easy way to recognize a young Budgerigar Parakeet.

Notice the ring around the adult bird's eye. See the black spots on either side of his chin. In this case, there are two on each side of the bird's head, below his beak.  

His nostrils (cere) are dark blue, indicating he's a male. As she matures, a Female's cere will turn brown. The baby Budgie at the right has a light colored cere that will change to either color as it matures. Although dots aren't always present, they are one more sign to check for in identifying a mature bird.

Baby Budgies also usually appear to have very "soft" feathers. It's difficult to explain the difference, but by comparing an adult and a baby together, the differences are noticeable... In the same way that a puppy or a kitten seems to have softer fur than they will when they are grown, there is a subtle difference too in the feathers of young birds. I suppose you could say they are "fresh and new."

Notice, too, that the baby Budgie's eyes are very dark throughout. This will eventually change, but offers a clue — along with the light cere color — that you are observing a very young Budgie.

Bourke Parakeet Location & Coloration

Here is a map of the areas where Bourke Parakeets originated and still live in the wild. I would hazard a guess that there are now as many domestic Bourkes living around the world as there are living wild in Australia.

Probably there are more domestic Rosy Bourkes outside Australia and Tasmania than living there. However, Australian bird breeders raise Rosies too and seem to have a wider span of color varieties than anywhere else.  

As you know, Rosies (or Rosas in the UK) are not the native, natural color, but have been bred to increase the pink/rose shades.  Some Bourkes have even been bred to be more blue and even yellow, although the yellow looks rather washed out to me. See the photo at right of a "yellow" Bourke. It was taken from Doreen Haggard’s “Bourke’s Parakeets” book published in the UK. 

Will a yellow Bourke ever be as bright and colorful as a yellow Budgie or Turquoisine?  I don’t believe yellow Bourkes begin to compare with either of those parakeets.  Also, the bright pink and rose of the Bourke Parakeet is so very unique and unequaled in any other parakeet, so I see no advantage is striving for yellow.  However, I do enjoy the bright blue rumps on some of the Rosy Bourkes, and it is especially pretty on a Normal Colored Bourke. So, an all blue Bourke sounds attractive. Yet, Budgerigars have that color already firmly established. But, no others share in the remarkable shades of rose and pink found only in Bourkes.

This photo of two of my very young Rosy Bourkes shows the difference in color between a Rosy and a Pink. These two are siblings from the same clutch. They lack the blue rump that appears on both their Rosy parents, indicating perhaps that they are moving even farther from the Normal coloration.

Below is a Rosy Bourke male and a pair of Normal Bourkes. Notice the beautiful blue on their shoulders and the turquoise color at the base of the tail. The pink at the bottom of their chests is more muted and doesn't rise as far as on Rosy Bourkes derived from them. 

More on Sexing Bourke Parakeets & a little on Splendids

Just noticed one of my young Bourkes doing a bounce and flair on his perch. He's definitely a male. Not only do male Bourke parakeets put their shoulders back and slightly flair their wings at the shoulders, but if they add a bounce too, that's a clear indication of a male Bourke.  In this photo, the male is at the far left, shoulders back, head up.

Females tend to have darker faces than males, but that's not totally reliable. I have a lovely male with a blue-gray face that's actually darker than some of his daughters. But, the girls will darken up as they mature, or so is the case with my hens. Once they are laying eggs, their facial feathers seem to come in darker than when they were youngsters. 

Other sources say the hens have a flatter head than the males do. Possibly the males flair their head feathers slightly when courting. As youngsters though, this isn't obvious to me, and that's when you want to learn their sex. Once they are mature, their actions will project their sex pretty clearly... That is, unless you have two males and one is dominant... then, you may have trouble telling that the subservient one is male and not female. However, in a mixed aviary where at least one hen is present, the males will "strut" their stuff and show off so that you should be able to identify them pretty easily if you pay attention to their behavior.

Females who are harrassed by too many males are likely to "scold" loudly. They also do this if they don't like the mate you gave them. Then it's time to switch them.

By the way, remember I moved my female Splendids to different males because for two years neither has had fertile eggs? Well, my 5-year-old patriarch was attempting to mate with his new lady. Wish them luck! They've been in the nest box together, but that's no guarantee. His attempts with her were better than with the previous hen ... just hope he's successful. All may depend on how stable she stands through the process. But, at least they're trying ... that's more than was done before with their earlier mates. This hen has never produced before, but the male, Rainbow, is the father of her previous, unsuccessful mate. Rainbow's first mate passed away. He's no youngster, but seems healthy.

Currently, have two Bourke hens on eggs and another asking to breed with her new mate. Should have three raising young soon (I hope!). Have several others who have each raised three clutches recently and are "resting" for a few months. Their boxes are closed or removed.

Have six babies almost ready to sell, only one is still being handfed occasionally. The others are eating on their own. They are so sweet. It's always difficult to part with them.

This photo is of the last six I sold. They are in a travel cage. It's not a cage where any babies live. It's too small. However, a divided cage like this works fine for temporary transportation. The links to Amazon below are for books I've discussed in the past.

Peace & Blessings!

Splendid Reflections: 40 Years of Grass Parrakeet Husbandry

Bourke's Parakeets

Another Bourke Gender Identification

I'm sitting here listening to a young Bourke sing and realized there's one method of identifying sex that I've not mentioned before.

Three Rosies are sitting along a perch and one Rosy is singing away, interspersed with wolf whistles. He is a MALE for sure. Male Bourkes like to sing, especially in the Spring. I'm not sure how early this characteristic begins, but it happens while they are still very young ... too young to breed. He's just chittering away happily while the other two are quiet. They are likely hens, although I'm less sure of their gender than I am of his. Hens will sing too, but they tend to chirp more quietly and less often.

It's early morning and that's when Bourkes are most active ... at dawn and dusk ... early morning and late evening. If sunrise is at 5 a.m., as it is here now, they will start singing slightly before the sun is up no matter how early.

Something else was mentioned in a comment about a pair of birds that turned out to be male, and that triggered a memory. If there are no females available, the more dominant male will try to feed the less dominant one. This is common in both Bourke and Splendid parakeets. The males instinct is to feed a mate, and if no hen is around, they'll try to coerce another male to accept being fed.

In a cage of mixed birds, several times I've seen a male Splendid single out a female Bourke and attempt to feed her. That's only because I have two extra male Splendids that I've been unable to find mates for. The Splendids prefer a female Bourke to another male Splendid if both are present. However, they leave male Bourkes alone! Bourkes are slightly larger and can intimidate Splendids when bothered. By the way, you won't get a hybrid Bourke/Splendid, although Splendids may try... Splendids have, however, successfully bred with Turquoisine grass parakeets.

May all your birds have Good Breeding! Smile.

Bourke Behaviors

Thanks to “Sags” for his comment on the last post. I thought I’d address some of the ideas he raised. He said he’s been told another way to sex Bourkes is by looking at two birds sitting “together; a hen will generally sit flat to the perch, whilst the male will be more upright.” I believe this goes along with my observation that males “strut” their stuff during breeding season. They may sit higher to stay alert and protect their mate. However, at other times during the year, I see no difference in how they sit on a perch.

My bird pairs are mostly in cages of their own, 30 inches long by 18 inches wide and 18 inches high. The length allows Bourkes to fly in circles, something they do well.

Sags also says he thinks “hens will bite with a vengeance, much more than males when held.” I haven’t noticed any difference. However, I’ve learned how to catch or hold them so that I won’t be bitten. When reaching into a cage, I may use a washrag to capture birds I feel are likely to bite with “a vengeance.” Then they can bite the rag all they want to. I also keep a bird net handy in case one escapes, but I seldom need it. Of course, tame birds don’t bite!

When I was a kid my grandfather taught me how to hold wild budgerigar parakeets to avoid nips. You pin their head between the second knuckles of your first and second fingers so that they can't turn their head to bite. This hold works fine on Bourkes and Splendids too. See photo example at left.

Note that in the UK Bourkes are called Rosa Bourkes and in the U.S. we call them Rosy Bourkes – same birds. Sags added, “As you say Rosa is sex-linked, but a rosa hen paired to normal male will only produce normal looking coloured birds, the young males being split for rosa...unless the father is split for rosa (only males can be split) then you get both rosa and normals in the young males and hens.”

I didn’t know that only males could be splits. I have Normal males who produce Rosy hens, and realize they are splits (heterozygous), their father was a Rosy. All my Normal hens have only produced Normal males and Rosy hens. Their mates have all been Rosies. I expected that a Rosy hen with a Normal male would produce Rosy males and Normal hens. That’s what I had interpreted from what I’d read, but have not put it into practice before.

Recently, for the first time, I have a Rosy hen with a Normal male. Their first clutch was fertile, but the eggs didn’t hatch. If Sags is right, then all their young will be Normals. It will be interesting to watch this happen, if they manage to hatch their eggs. That hen is starting a new clutch now.

Sags said, “… I just wish I was as successful in breeding my birds. Things are not going too well so far (only last night I removed a dead chick, a lutino splendid)....I blame the British weather!”

When I have hens on eggs that are about to hatch, I make sure that the room they are in is at least 70 degrees or warmer. I think my success is because my birds live indoors where it’s always warm. They also get lots of light from large windows. Along with seeds, they get fresh greens and veggies too … maybe that helps.

Sags said, “Incidently, it’s my pictures in the link for sexing splendids. The wing bar is not 100% reliable, but helps when used with the differences in colour.”

Thanks again for your comments, Sags! I like your photos at: http://www.grassparakeets.talktalk.net/   It's a great site with wonderful web cam shots of babies in the nest!

P.S. I get my birds’ bands and bought the bird net from: L & M Bird Bands in San Bernardino, California. http://www.lmbirdlegbands.com/

May your birds bring you peace & joy. Here are two of my latest, almost adult babies.

A Baby Bourke’s Future Color

If you keep mixed couples, i.e., one Normal Bourke and one Rosy Bourke, you may wonder what their newly hatched babies are going to look like.

The Bourke book I own, published in the UK, says that Normals will have gray fuzz and Rosies will have white fuzz, and that’s how you can tell what they are going to be. Balderdash! All my fuzzy little baby Bourkes look the same even though some grow up to be Normals and some grow up to be Rosies. They all appear to have fuzz that’s more white than gray, sort of an off-white.

Maybe early Rosy babies were fuzzy white and Normals with no heterozygous genes were fuzzy gray? Mine always look alike, even when both colors are in the same clutch.

That said, there is another way to guess their future color. From their feet! Most Normals have dark feet and those destined to grow mostly pink feathers will have pink feet. That said, one of my current Rosy babies has feet with both brown and pink skin. It has no other Normal features, so I think you can safely assume that a baby bird with “striped” feet will be Rosy. The striping is unusual though.

Once their feathers begin to bud out, you will soon recognize pink dots of color on the backs of the Rosies.

As a reminder, Bourke color is sex-linked and babies will be the color of the parent of the opposite sex. This means a Rosy dad and a Normal mom will produce males that are Normal Bourkes and all their hens will be Rosy Bourkes and vice versa; a Rosy hen will produce Rosy sons and her Normal mate will produce Normal hens.

I have one pair, however, who produce 50/50 of each color and both are Normals. The male had a Rosy father and a Normal mother, so he is the Normal color. Apparently he’s heterozygous. All his progeny who are pink have been hens. All the Normals have been male. If you want more explanation of homozygous and heterozygous, query the internet. There’s more info. out there than I can provide. Suffice it to say that he carries the gene for Rosies, as apparently did many other Normals, or we wouldn’t have our beautiful Rosies. Smile.

May you have Rose-colored Blessings Galore.

Breeding The Colorful Little Grass Parakeet  $29.99 from Amazon

Splendid Reflections: 40 Years of Grass Parrakeet Husbandry  $29.28 from Amazon

Splendid Sex Identification

Thanks to reader, neversink7, for providing the site address below which has photos of Splendids, including the wing bands mentioned in the previous post.

http://www.grassparakeets.talktalk.net/sexing.htm

Sexing Splendids

Although there are many hybrid colors of Splendids, I think the normal variety is the prettiest. Why fool around with a good thing? Adult male Splendids in their normal wild color are easy to recognize. The males have a scarlet chest and the females don't.

All young Splendids look like hens. It could be many weeks before bits of red begin to show on their chests, indicating that they're male, gradually filling in to cover most of their chest.

As with Bourkes, I'm not going to go peering inside a bird ... it might injure them and I wouldn't know what to look for anyway. I'm not a vet. Leave this to the professionals!

However, there is another way that may help determine the sex of your young birds. Splendid males tend to have black beneath their wings, whereas, females have white bands within the black. If the white bands are broken, you may have to wait and see whether the white bands fill in or disappear. In my case, I've seen partial white, broken bands fade out to become all black (males). If the underside of the wings are already black, then you know you have a male. If there are strong, unbroken white bands (lines) on the underside of the wings, then you have a female.

I posted this description once before and a reader said he appreciated it. He used this and said it's always proven true for him since. Handling the babies to check the feathers on the underside of their wings should also help tame them.

Good luck sexing your youngsters!

Sexing Bourkes

You may already know how to sex normal Bourkes (those with brown backs). Adult males grow a narrow row of blue feathers above their cere (nose/nostrils). Females don't have that line of blue, and typically neither do Rosies.

Sexing Rosies or young birds is more difficult. I'm not a vet and can't peer inside the birds, or do a DNA sample. But, watching the birds will often give a clue as to their sex. Males tend to strut their stuff by throwing their shoulders back and slightly flairing their wings at the shoulder. This is an obvious clue that they are male. Sometimes youngsters will start to do this almost as soon as they are weaned (eating on their own).

Another clue is if they attempt to "feed" a sibling. When this occurs, the one doing the feeding is likely male. Very young birds can be seen "practicing" this behavior. Don't, however, mistake this for when they are trying to steal food from each other's mouths!

Male Bourkes feed their hen during courtship and when she's on eggs. As soon as young leave the nest, father Bourkes take over most of their feeding. So, male feeding comes naturally to them, even at a young age.

As for identifying very young hens, that's not as easy. All you can do is say, "well, I don't see any male behavior, so this is probably a hen."  You have a 50/50 chance of being right!  

Peace & Bird Blessings.

Differences in Newly-Hatched Parakeet Varieties

For the fun of it, here are photos of new baby Budgies, baby Bourkes and baby Splendids, just to compare the differences.

A baby Budgerigar parakeet.

An albino baby Budgie parakeet.

Budgerigar parakeets don't have fuzz and hatch out completely bald. Notice the one on the left has dark eye sockets and the other doesn't. The one on the right grew to have pink eyes, an albino. It is five days old already and still not fuzzy.

Newly hatched Rosy Bourke parakeets. Not bald like Budgies.

Bourkes sometimes have pink eyes too, but their feathers are typically still pink, although their faces are often white. You can always tell who will have pink eyes and who won't, by the color of the sockets even before they open their eyes. These all have dark sockets. Baby Bourkes show very pink skin under their fuzzy down. Of all newly hatched babies, I think Bourkes are the cutest. There are four babies shown here, huddled together. Unlike Budgies, Bourkes like pine shavings or something similar under them, rather than an indented wood surface. So do Splendids.

Splendid (Scarlet-chested) Parakeet chicks also hatch with fuzz.

These are Splendid/Scarlet-chested baby parakeets in my hands. Their skin color is slightly darker and more tan-toned than pink like the Bourkes. They, too, have soft fuzzy down, but less than on the Bourkes. And, certainly more than on a Budgerigar!

Splendid Parakeet chicks (also called Scarlet-chested parakeets).
They have more "fuzz" than Budgies, but less than Bourke parakeets.
All three varieties of parakeet are approximately the same size.

Violet-Green Swallows

There are many varieties of swallows. On the west coast of Oregon, U.S.A., we primarily have Barn Swallows and Violet-green Swallows. Since Barn Swallows make mud nests, we prefer to encourage the Violet-green Swallows. These lovely birds are the best way to keep mosquitoes and other flying insects under control. We put up bird houses for the Violet-green Swallows.

If you do this too, don’t allow perches on your bird houses. Swallows don’t need them, and Starlings or Jays can use a perch to reach in and steal newly hatched babies to feed to their own young. Sad… Let them eat something else!

Our swallows are very beneficial birds. They only eat insects, so they aren’t going to harm fruit trees or the garden. In fact, they help get rid of harmful insects that DO harm fruit and vegetables.

Swallows on our west coast migrate and typically return to our area after the middle of March. Coincidentally, returning just when mosquito season starts. No doubt by arrangement of a Higher Power, thank you.

California’s San Juan Capistrano Mission always expects the return of their swallows on March 19 every year. They might miss by a day or two, but they always return.

English Sparrows that were imported to the U.S. have become very prolific and compete with native birds. However, they are not as serious a problem as Starlings, who were also imported, and DO eat fruit and damage crops. Although pretty, these two species of birds have taken over much of the habitat of our native species. Sad again.

Prevent English Sparrows from using your bird houses. Do this by adjusting the size of the opening. The hole into the box needs to be big enough for a swallow, but too small for sparrows. An entry with a diameter of 1-3/8 inches works perfectly. For metric readers, this is 35mm.

We live on several acres and have 7 bird houses scattered around. The one shown in the photograph above is outside our back porch window. We loved watching the parents come and go last year. The bird sticking its head out of the box is a baby ready to fledge.

I found this VHS film on Amazon: The Swallows of Capistrano [VHS]. It has great footage of the birds return to the California Mission every year on March 19. Since that's my father's birthday, we always remember it.

Choosing Names

I talked a bit about naming birds in the past, and thought I'd elaborate. I want to remember the parentage of birds kept as breeders. We keep written records online, however, their names are a quick reference. Thus, I choose names that help me remember lineages. As the flock grows, it's easier for me to keep track of them than for my husband who is less involved, so a small 3" x 5" file card with their names goes into the skirt at the bottom of each cage. Skirts help catch extra seed that's thrown out.  

Here are some of the names we've used for Bourkes and Splendids. See if you recognize why.

Rhett & Scarlett = Bonnie (remember Gone With The Wind?)

     Bonnie & Clyde (infamous American outlaws)

*Rhett & Cherry = Rory (also Rhett Jr.)

*Bing & Stella = Bella  (also Bing Jr.)

     Bella & Rory 

    Willow & Bing Jr.

Rainbow & Jewel = Rainy, Gem (also Rainbow Jr.)

     Rainbow Jr. & Rivka

     Misty & Rainy
     Gem & Rudy

Sugar & Spice = Candy

     Candy & Chitter

Dolly & Dolph

Merlin & Millet = Meryl

     Meryl & Madelyn

I acquired two male birds from a gentleman named Rudolfo. One of them became Rudy and the other we named Dolph. I'll always remember where they came from and that they weren't birds I bred myself.

If your mind doesn't work like mine, perhaps this won't work for you. However, if you see the connections, come up with combinations of your own and share them with the rest of us (email: rosie.birds@gmail.com). I can always use other clever name relationships. I'm reluctant to use long names like Samson & Delilah, Napoleon & Josephine, or Guinevere and Lancelot ... although Lance & Gwen works!

This is Rhett, my oldest bird, and his mate, Cherry. He is facing us, she is turned away. The babies above are their current three, not yet out of the nest, but close to it.

* Originally Bing & Cherry were a pair. Bing was a beautiful singer like Bing Crosby, and since there are Bing Cherries, his wife became Cherry. However, they didn't produce and when other hens became available I put one with him and named her Stella (another variety of cherry tree).  Then, Rhett's mate died young and Rhett married Cherry. Together they've produced many baby birds, as did Bing & Stella. Rhett is my very first bird and still a healthy dad with 3 babies in the box right now (shown above).  

Privacy Please ...

Mated bliss photos show male on top of hen below. Spicy, is a tame male Bourke with normal coloring. He is also the tiny, newly hatched chick being handfed in a side column photo. His Rosy mate, shown here, is Sugar. Photos may not be the best ... I didn't want to move in close enough to disturb them. Smile.