Identify Your Budgie's Sex

If you just got a budgie, you may want to determine its sex. Learn which colors signify a male or female budgie. You can also watch your budgie's behavior or listen to it to determine the sex. If you're still having trouble, remember you can always consult your veterinarian or the breeder that sold you the budgie.

Steps

Using Color to Identify Sex

  1. Find the budgie's cere. The cere is a fleshy covering which is located directly above its beak.[1] The budgie's nostrils are found on the cere (they look like two in-depth holes) making the cere easy to find. While most budgie's beaks are a yellowish color, the cere is a certain color depending on the bird's sex.
  2. Identify a male budgie. Most male budgies in the breeding mood have a bright or royal blue cere. Sometimes, the vibrant color can appear purple-blue.[2] This color will lighten to a pale whitish blue when the budgie is not in the breeding mood.[1]
    • If you've identified your budgie as male and notice his cere turn brown, he may have a medical condition.[1]
  3. Identify a female budgie. A female adult budgie's cere is usually a white or pale brown. As she becomes more fertile and ready to produce eggs, the cere will become a darker tan or brownish pink in color.[3]
    • If the budgie is fertile and ready to breed, you may also notice the cere thicken and become crusty.[1] The cere build up can be about a centimeter thick.[2]
  4. Consider the age of your budgie. If your budgie is less than 4 months old, it will be difficult to tell its sex using color.[2] Before this time, the colored area that shows sex changes colors regularly. This makes it hard, but not impossible, to accurately tell if your budgie is male or female. If your budgie hasn't had its first molt, has dark button eyes, and has bars coming from its head to cere, then it's less than four months old.[2]
    • If your budgie is immature or less than 4 months old, the cere is usually pink. The cere on males will slowly turn purple and females will keep the pink with white circles or turn completely white. If your budgie is between the ages of 8 and 12 months, the cere is most likely a bright pink or purple color, but will settle into a set color around 1 year.[2]
  5. Understand the challenges of using color to identify the sex. In addition to changes in color based on breeding mood, a budgie's cere may change for a number of other reasons. Female budgies may have hormonal imbalances that display a light blue cere for a long time. Some budgies have genetic mutations that show color differently. For these budgies, color is an unreliable indicator of sex.[1]
    • For example, albino budgies may have a pink cere color, making them difficult to identify by sex.

Identifying the Sex Using Other Methods

  1. Listen to your budgie. Males are known for being much noisier than female budgies. They will chirp or sing and the songs can be quite long. While female budgies make sounds too, they usually sound angry and less musical.[4]
    • Males are also quick learners when it comes to speaking.
  2. Watch your budgie's behavior. Male budgies frequently bob their heads up and down or tap their beaks against their cage. They'll appear playful and outgoing. Female budgies may seem more aggressive if they're in the mood to breed, subdued, or if they're fertile.[4][2]
    • You may notice a male budgie tap against a female and regurgitate food to her. Don't worry. This is normal breeding behavior.
  3. Ask someone knowledgeable. When you buy your budgie from the breeder or dealer, ask the budgie's sex. You can also purchase inexpensive DNA kits that also reveal the budgie's sex.
    • Don't forget that you can ask your veterinarian to determine the sex of the budgie. This will be easier if the vet is familiar with treating birds.

Tips

  • If the budgie is tame you should not have to grab the budgie. Simply let it sit on your finger or on a perch and examine the cere carefully.
  • Males sometimes have a light blue tine on their legs while the females have a pinkish tint.

Warnings

  • Remember that budgies are very fragile creatures and have very small, frail bones. Be gentle when handling, but make sure to hold them firmly.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 http://www.birds-online.de/allgemein/geschlecht_en.htm
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 http://budgieplace.com/mf.html
  3. ↑ http://www.cutelittlebirdiesaviary.com/what-is-breeding-condition.html
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 http://pets.thenest.com/tell-budgie-male-female-6602.html

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