Sexing Budgies: Herculean Task?

Nowadays most of the lovebirds owners switch over to raising budgies as it is cheap to procure. But they have ended in sorrow due to the fact that they're unable to sex them.

The simple method for sexing Budgies is looking cere (the bit above it's beak). In male, it will be blue in color and in females they will be white cere with a hint of blue. It is very easy to differentiate adult and male. But the young ones are very difficult to differentiate. In young male, purple-pinkish colour cere is present and in females, they will have will have a pale blue cere with white rings around the nostrils.

See the picutres below and then you can sex the budgies very easily...

Male Adult Budgerigar


Female Budgerigar

Nesting Material: Perfect Way to Start Lovebird Breeding

Please make sure that there is always plenty of nesting material around that is suitable for the birds you breed. Suitable materials for nest building include dried grass, hay, plant roots, coconut fibers, and sisal twine, dried moss, leaves, animal hair (of rabbits, dogs, horses, and cattle) and little twigs.

Most members of the budgerigar family don't build nests. Place a layer of damp peat-moss or some rotten wood on the bottom of the nest box. This keeps the eggs slightly moist-dehydration is fatal- and also stops the eggs from rolling to the sides.

Destructive species of birds like to gnaw a lot, especially parrots, a large number of parakeets and cockatoos have a tendency to "remodel" their nest box with their sharp beaks. They do not always set about this in a clever way. They sometimes gnaw away the entrance hole to such an extent that it becomes a half-open nest box.

A lot of parent birds do not leave the bottom of the nest box alone, either. Extra protection, possibly with hardwood or with some metal strips, might help.

Always give these birds plenty of material to gnaw on during the breeding season, you could for example give them some fresh willow tree twigs.

Where Can You Best Buy Your Birds?

You can buy a bird from a pet shop, a trader in birds and sometimes even directly from bird shows, and from breeders of course.

Where you buy your birds will to some extent depend on the species of bird you are looking for and what you are planning to do with them. Common species, such as budgerigars, lovebirds, zebra finches, or canaries, can be bought at virtually any pet store.

If, however, you are looking for a somewhat rarer bird, a bird with a particular type of coloring or a particular type of characteristics, then your average pet shop will not be able to help you.

This will most certainly be the case if you want to use your birds for breeding purposes and want to enter them for shows.

The demands that are made in respect of a bird’s appearance at shows are very high and you will almost certainly not able to find birds you can enter in shows in your average pet shop.

In that case you had better contact your local bird association. The members of the secretariat can usually refer you to a breeder who has the birds you are looking for.

You could also pay a visit to one or more bird shows. At these events you can admire the different species and type of coloring and get in touch with the bird’s owners or breeders.

You can contact a local bird association or the national bird association to find out more about when and where these bird shows are to be held. Bird magazines, also provide useful information about these shows.

Care of Cage Bars in an Aviary (Part-I)

When buying a cage please make sure that the bars are strong enough for the species of birds you want to keep. It goes without saying that lovebirds need much thicker bars or wire mesh than canaries.

The gap between the bars or wire mesh is also something you should pay attention to. If the bars are too far apart from each other or if the wire mesh too coarse, then lovebird may try to wriggle itself out through the gaps and get its head struck .

It is for this reason that small tropical birds cannot be kept in a cage that has been specially designed for lovebirds, for example, and the latter cannot be kept in a parrot cage. Because of the strength of the wire mesh or the bars, a strong budgerigar or parrot should not be kept in a cage is spacious enough for the bird.