How to determine the sex of a budgerigar

You have already bought a cage, food and toys for your future feathered friend and you know exactly who will live with you: a boy or a girl, a couple or a flock. Having solved the problem of how to determine the sex of a budgerigar, you can safely proceed to the choice of a bird.

Most often, future owners of parrots try to buy young ones, and this is absolutely true: there are much more chances to tame and even teach a baby to speak than an adult parrot who has a character and already has experience communicating with people (unfortunately, not always positive). You can instill good manners and your lifestyle in the chick.

How to distinguish a female from a male budgerigar

The sex of parrots is determined by the color of the cere, provided that there are no hormonal problems. The wax is an indicator of the hormonal background of a bird, but in most cases this applies to mature females. Distinguishing a female from an adult male is quite easy.

Mature males have a bright blue color of the wax, things are a little more complicated with the female. If the hormonal forms are normal, then the girl’s wax first brightens, as if fading and gradually becomes light beige, even white, and later brown. The rich brown color and roughness of the cere in the female indicate an increased hormonal background and readiness for nesting, a pale color and smoothness indicate a decrease in hormones.

In albinos, white budgerigars with red eyes, lutino – yellow birds with red eyes, as well as mixed yellow with white plumage – in males, the color of the cere may remain bright purple or pink, while in females the usual classic color appears, like in girls traditional colors.

Very rarely there is a non-standard spotted color of the wax, in this case, you need an individual approach to determining the sex and the help of professional breeders.

A boy or a girl?

In order to distinguish a boy from a girl under the age of three months, pay attention to the uniformity of the color of the wax – in chicks it is an even mauve or lilac color, and in girls it is light blue or pale pink, saturated white circles are clearly visible around the nostrils, similar to clarified areas. During adolescence, the shade of wax can lighten and darken a little during the day, this is normal. There is also an opinion that it is possible to distinguish the sex of parrots by the shape of the head: in females it is more elongated, and in males, on the contrary, it is rounded, but this is not a rule, but rather an exception.

There is also a method for determining the sex of budgerigars using photographs. After looking at a certain number of pictures of specifically males and females, comparing them, it will become easier for you to catch the difference between boys and girls.

If you have acquired a chick, but still doubt who is in front of you a boy or a girl and you decide to ask experienced breeders about birds on the forum, you should not limit yourself to one photo of Kesha or Glasha. Do not be lazy to take several pictures at different times of the day, with and without flash.

Professional breeders recommend not limiting yourself to one parrot, but over time, buy a pair for him. Most often, this is what happens: birds win our hearts, and there is too much space for one parrot, and we go to buy birds again and again. Therefore, do not be upset if you suddenly find out that you have a parrot of the wrong sex that you wanted, over time, gaining experience, you will gain a second one!

In the video, a couple, the difference in the color of the waxes is very clearly visible:

chick boy:

Baby Girl: