Budgie Basics

The Main Points of a Budgie

These are the main points of a budgie. 

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Gender

On the left is a picture of a variety of possibilities of ceres for both genders. The top box is possible cocks and the bottom box is possible hens. 
When hens are in breeding condition, their cere turns brown and crusty.

Aging Your Budgie

One way a budgie's age can be told is by the eyes. If the eyes are pitch black with no or very pale iris rings- then they are under 4 months old. There are some exceptions of mutations which never gain iris rings (ie. recessive pieds, dark eyed clears etc).

The 5-9month old iris ring will start to brighten and increases in thickness. It becomes impossible to tell their age once the ring is finished (at around 12 months).

Another way is the 'baby-bars'. The bars are the black lines which cross down a budgie's head and neck. When they are young, budgies have excess melanin and so have more bars than adults. As they age, the bars disappear leaving a yellow or white crest (top of the head). Again, some mutations are never born with bars at all so cannot be aged in this way.

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