The budgerigar bird, commonly known as budgie bird or parakeets is among the top domestic pets after dogs and cats. People love to have these small, vibrant, chirpy and feathery guys at homes. These are adorable, easy to care and inexpensive birds. Budgie birds (full name: budgerigar) belong to genus Melopsittacus. These are small in size (7-8 inches long), long tailed and seed-eating parrots. Natural color of budgie birds is green and yellow with black scalloped spots. However, they can be blues, whites, yellows, grays, in color which is the result of inbreeding.
The earliest evidences of budgie birds date back to 1805. These charming birds are native to Australia. If you are a bird lover, have this parakeet at home or if you are planning to bring this feathery fellow to home, here are some interesting facts about budgies for you:
All budgies are parakeet but not all parakeets are budgies. This is interesting about these birds. Parakeet refers to different kinds of small bird species. It can be of various sizes and colors. Budgies are smaller as compared to other parakeets. So all budgies are parakeet but not all parakeets are budgie.
14 Interesting facts about budgies that you should know!!
1. About their appearance!
Budgerigars are small in size but not so tiny. The average size ranges from 7-8 inches. They are most popular by nicknames such as budgie birds, parakeet, zebra parrot, shell parrot and canary parrots etc. They have characteristic black scalloped marks on their body. This charming bird has more vertebrae in their necks in comparison of several other bird species. These additional vertebrae allow them to twist their neck and they can easily see backward.
All budgies are parakeet but not all parakeets are budgies. This is interesting about these birds. Parakeet refers to different kinds of small bird species. It can be of various sizes and colors. Budgies are smaller as compared to other parakeets. So all budgies are parakeet but not all parakeets are budgie.
2. There are two kinds of budgies!
Budgies are further categorized into two types based on the size and color. These are English and Australian budgies. Mostly the domestic or pet budgies are Australian kind. The English budgies are larger in size and are result of selective breeding. Therefore, they are often referred as show budgies. English budgies are somewhat tamed in comparison to wild type. Moreover, they are much quieter. On the other hand, the domestic Australian burgees tend to be chirper and vibrant.3. Average lifespan of budgies!
Pet budgies usually have a lifespan of five to eight years.4. Their natural color and color mutations!!
Budgies are naturally green and yellow in color. However, we see various other colors at pet shops. These colorful budgies are generally categorized into:- White-based budgies – includes white, gray and blue color
- Yellow-based budgies – includes yellow, green and grayish-green colors
5. They have three eyelids!
Birds have extra eyelids than humans. This is named as nictitating membrane and it helps to keep the eyes clean from dirt and debris.6. Male or female – cere color tells!
Doing early phase of growth, it’s hard to tell if it’s a male or female budgerigar. However, the color of cere in fully grown budgies helps in this regard. Male budgies have blue cere and female budgie bird has brown cere color.7. Budgies have exceptionally high respiration rate and heart beat!!
These feathery fellows have remarkably high resting respiration rate than most of the other bird species. Budgie’s resting respiration rate ranges from 65 to 68 times per minute. Moreover, a budgie heart beats 300 times per minute. This is another of amazing and interesting facts about budgies.
8. They have monocular vision!!
The budgie birds can see out of each eye independently and can move it too. This is called as monocular vision.9. Hearing frequency range
Study suggests that pure tone hearing frequency range of budgies ranges from 8Hz to 10 kHz. They are smart learners about voices and sounds and can also mimic them. Also read: Interesting facts about cats10. Budgie birds can be tamed to speak and good at mimicry!!
It’s not a hard and fast rule that all the budgies speak or mimicry. However, when properly trained, budgie birds are smart learners. They can whistle, play tricks and mimicry words and sounds. Both male and female are good at singing and mimicry, however, males are particularly smart and they can easily learn up to hundreds words. Female budgie generally learns as much as a few dozen words. They are chirpier when kept together.
11. A male Budgie “Puck” holds Guinness world record of largest vocabulary of birds
As we mentioned before, male budgerigar are good in learning and mimicry. A male budgerigar “Puck” holds the Guinness world record of 1728 words. It was owned by an American “Camille Jordan”. Sadly, Puck died in 1994 and the record got published in 1995 edition of Guinness world record. This is, till date, the largest vocabulary of any bird.12. Disco – the superstar budgie!
A male budgie, ‘Disco’ became an internet sensation for its talking ability and mimicry. It even appeared on famous TV show in Network City. Sadly, Disco died in 2017 at the age of seven. However, his owner made a YouTube chenille channel “Disco the parakeet” in 2011. The channel has 22,372,488 views till date. Disco’s one of the most popular and adorable phrase was “nobody puts a baby bird in the corner!”
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