12

Budgerigar

(Melopsittacus undulatus)
: "Shell Parrot", "Warbling Grass-parrot",
"Canary Parrot", "Zebra Parrot", "Love-bird"

Aboriginal name(s): "budgerigah", "betcherrygah", "gidjirrigaa" [gamilaraay, yuwaalaraay]; "dingleyerong" (WA); "gilgilga", "cathathara" ("katatara"), "coolyerrin"
Size: 17-20 cm
Weight: 30-40 g

Description

Classification

Distribution

Sightings

Photos

Breeding

Nest

Eggs

Behaviour

Food

Call/s

Physical description

Click here for physical description of this species Click here for a physical description

Budgerigars are small parrots. Although different colours exit in domestic breeds, in nature all Budgerigars are primarily bright green (front, i.e., chest, belly, vent, undertail coverts, and parts of the back, namely uppertail coverts and rump). The forehead, throat and part of the cheeks are bright yellow, with some black and blue, UV-iridescent chin patches. The back of the head, from the eyes backward, the mantle and the upperwings are scalloped black and bright-yellow, with dark-grey, yellow-lined flight feathers. The uppertail is dark-green, the undertail is grey. In flight the underwings show green coverts, a bright yellow bar and grey flight feathers. Male Budgerigars have a blue cere; the cere of female Budgerigars is pinkish-brown. The irises of both sexes are yellow; the bill is yellowish-grey, the legs and feet are grey. Juvenile Budgerigars have brown irises, duller colours than adults and fine black barring all over the head, especially the frons and cheeks (where adults are not barred).

Taxonomy, classification

See Budgerigar at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species

Click here for information on habitat and range

The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org .

The global distribution of the Budgerigar is available HERE .

NB: Reports on ebird of birds submitted by birdwatchers from the Australian Outback tend to be clustered along roads and public areas such as camp grounds; in such cases their distribution is not a good representation of the overall distribution of the species.

Budgerigars are endemic to Australia. They are well-adapted to life in a semi-arid to arid environment and are rarely found on the coast (only near Adelaide, SA, and along the North-West tip of WA). Otherwise they are found over most of the semi-arid interior, after substantial rainfall even in the most arid parts. They are most commonly found in inland NSW and QLD (well outside the Great Dividing Range), inland SA and NT (except the great salt pans of Lake Eyre and Lake Frome, where they venture only after significant rainfall). Also in the major sandy deserts of western WA and the Kimberley they are usually found only in favourable conditions. They are not found in the Top End of the NT and Cape York peninsula, or along the East coast and most of the South coast of Australia (including Tasmania).

Budgerigars are usually found in open grassland or lightly wooded scrub with grassy patches or undergrowth. They can also be found around crops, in particular sorghum.

Where to look? How to find this species?

Budgerigars are most easily found while in the air. If you find a flock of small green parrots in straight flight numbering anywhere from about 10 to 10000 birds, they are very likely to be Budgerigars. They can often be found roosting in dead trees, including small trees and tall shrubs. There they can give an observer the impression that a dead tree has grown new, bright-green foliage... Sometimes they are also flushed while feeding in open grassland.

Sightings

Click here for sighting information

Despite probably being the most commonly known species of parrots in the western world, Budgerigars are so elusive - at least in the Narrabri region - that we sighted them only once in the Narrabri area over a period of almost ten years, namely 20 km South of Narrabri, NSW, in 2004.

It took a trip to western NSW (westward of Burren Junction) to obtain first photos out in the wild. In the dry floodplains of the Darling River west of about Walgett, NSW, Budgerigars were abundant in March 2008.

Usually Budgerigars stay in the Outback, including western QLD and NSW. In September 2012, after two years of good inland rainfall, we saw many thousands of Budgerigars on a trip to outback NSW, in particular at Sturt NP, near Tibooburra, NSW.

Some years, after good rainfall, Budgerigars come to the North-west Slopes in NSW, including the Narrabri region, in good numbers. Flocks of tens of birds are then occasionally found. The highest number of birds in a flock, of order a few hundred, was reported by V. Collins in June 2020. Contributors have also reported finding Budgerigars in the areas of Moree, NSW, and Coonabarabran, including e.g. Warrumbungle NP.

M. Windeyer reports finding a large flock of Budgerigars, with about 500 birds, near the Castlereagh River bridge about 13 km south of Gulargambone, NSW, in May 2020, at a time when Budgerigars were reported from many locations near the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in inland NSW, up to Narrabri, Wee Waa and Burren Junction.

The farthest to the East we have ever seen Budgerigars was 10 km South-East of Maules Creek, NSW, well inside the western foothills of the Great Dividing Range, in March 2013, at a time when lots of grasses were going to seed in the area. During the autumn of 2013 Budgerigars were spotted in the Northern Tablelands, as far East as the area of Ebor.

Budgerigars were found by us preparing for the upcoming breeding season at Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, in June 2019.

J. Greaves reports finding large numbers of Budgerigars, including large flocks, drinking rainwater that had accumulated in gravel pits at the Tropicana Gold Mine, 330 km NE of Kalgoorlie, WA, over several months in 2011.

B. Hensen reports finding Budgerigars in the Top End of the NT in July 2018.

In June 2022, M. Eaton spotted Budgerigars at Roxby Downs, SA.

C. Pears reports spotting a flock of Budgerigars at Mellenbye Station, ca. 50 km NE of Morawa, WA, in September 2022.

Photos

ADULT

MALE

Frontal view of a male Budgerigar; note the blue-grey cere
[Eulah Creek, NSW, April 2013]

Near-frontal view of a snoozing male Budgerigar (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Quilpie, QLD, July 2021]

Near-frontal/ventral view of a male Budgerigar
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, October 2013]

Near-lateral/ventral view of a male Budgerigar
[Near Wee Waa, NSW, January 2016]

Lateral view of a male Budgerigar
[Near Hungerford, QLD, September 2012]

Near-dorsal view of a male Budgerigar
[Eulah Creek, NSW, April 2013]

Near-dorsal view of a male Budgerigar (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Roxby Downs, SA, June 2022]

FEMALE

Near-frontal view of a female Budgerigar (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lake Bindegolly NP, near Thargomindah, QLD, June 2019]

Near-frontal/ventral view of three female Budgerigars
[Near Wee Waa, NSW, January 2016]

Close-up lateral view of a female Budgerigar (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kilcowera Station, between Thargomindah and Hungerford, QLD, June 2020]

Lateral view of three female Budgerigars
[Near Wee Waa, NSW, January 2016]

PAIR

Budgerigars perform elaborate bonding rituals, which is what has earned them the name of "Lovebirds".

Frontal view of a pair of Budgerigars - male on the right, female on the left; note the different colours of the ceres
[Eulah Creek, NSW, April 2013]

Frontal/ventral view of a pair of Budgerigars
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, June 2019]

Lateral view of a pair of Budgerigars (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Mungerannie, SA, June 2015]

Two pairs of Budgerigars courting each other (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Mellenbye Station, ca. 50 km NE of Morawa, WA, September 2022]

Lateral/ventral view of a pair of Budgerigars "getting into the mood"
[Near Pilliga, NSW, May 2020]

Near-dorsal/ventral view of a pair of preening Budgerigars
[Near Pilliga, NSW, May 2020]

Near-dorsal/ventral view of a pair of Budgerigars; male on the right - these are the birds whose calls were recorded on 4 March 2020
[Mt. Kaputar NP, near Narrabri, NSW, March 2020]

Near-dorsal/dorsal view of a pair of Budgerigars (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Roxby Downs, SA, June 2022]

Sex unknown

Comparison of a Budgerigar with a White-browed Woodswallow
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, June 2019]

Budgerigars roosting and preening in an eucalypt tree
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, April 2013]

Budgerigars are highly sociable animals - everything is done in large numbers
[Sturt NP, NSW, September 2012]

Cooling is part of a Budgerigar's life in outback NSW in summer...
[Near Brewarrina, NSW, March 2008]

... as is preening
[Near Brewarrina, NSW, March 2008]

Lateral view of a mixed flock of Budgerigars and Gouldian Finches in flight (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Top End, NT, July 2018]

Near-dorsal view of a part of a flock of Budgerigars in flight
[Sturt NP, NSW, September 2012]

Flock of Budgerigars flying in to feed on grass seeds
[Sturt NP, NSW, September 2012]

This is how much one can see of about 200 Budgerigars when they have settled in in tall grass...
[Sturt NP, NSW, September 2012]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Frontal view of an adult male (right) and an juvenile male (left) Budgerigar on the ground
[Eulah Creek, NSW, April 2015]

Frontal/ventral view of a juvenile male Budgerigar, left and upper right, in a small mob
[Near Narrabri, NSW, July 2020]

Lateral view of a juvenile male Budgerigar on the ground; note the absence of tail feathers
[Eulah Creek, NSW, April 2015]

(Near-)dorsal view of an adult male (left) and a juvenile male (right) Budgerigar
[Eulah Creek, NSW, April 2015]

Dorsal view of a juvenile, probably female, Budgerigar
[Near Brewarrina, NSW, March 2008]

Bred varieties

Sometimes escapes can be seen out in nature. The budgerigar shown below was found to hang out with a flock of House Sparrows.

Frontal view of a male escape Budgerigar; the colour of its plumage is a bit lighter than that of its wild cousins

There is something to nibble, too

The same Budgerigar as above, now in a tree...

...and here seen preening

Breeding information

Breeding season: June - Jan Eggs: 4 - 8 Incubation period: 17 - 23 days Fledging age: 28 - 35 days

Nest building: ? Incubation: Female Dependent care: Female & male

Nest
"bungobittah", "lar", "malunna", "jindi" [bundjalung] = nest [Aboriginal]

Type: Tree hollow Material: ? Height above ground: 2 - 10 m

Budgerigars can, in principle, breed any time after significant inland rain. They choose sites in both live and dead trees and often nest colonially. At prime nest sites, when there is a lot of pressure on available nest space, they can choose all kinds of cavities to nest in, also very low near the ground. The male feeds the female at the nest while she is incubating. This is the reason behind their elaborate "affectionate" bonding ritualthat have earned Budgerigars the nickname "Lovebirds".

Pair of Budgerigars at the entrance to their nest hollow in a live eucalypt
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, June 2019]

Female Budgerigar at the entrance to its nest hollow in a live eucalypt
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, June 2019]

Eggs
"boyanga", "booyanga", "derinya", "dirandil", "koomura", "mirk", "ngampu", "nooluk", "pateena", "pum-pum" = Egg; "dirundirri" = eggs [Aboriginal]; "gawu" = eggs [gamilaraay]

Size: 18 x 14 mm Colour: White Shape: Rounded

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Communal Mobility: Dispersive Elementary unit: Flock

Budgerigars are highly sociable and gregarious birds that will (especially after a successful breeding season) form flocks of many thousands. In such huge flocks the individual birds are well protected.

Bonding ritual at the start of the breeding season: Male Budgerigar feeding his partner, who will be reliant on him while incubating their eggs (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kilcowera Station, between Thargomindah and Hungerford, QLD, June 2020]

Bonding ritual at the start of the breeding season: Male Budgerigar feeding his partner, who will be reliant on him while incubating their eggs
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, August 2013]

Two male Budgerigars settling an issue about the pecking order
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, August 2013]

Male Budgerigar snoozing in a tree
[Eulah Creek, NSW, April 2013]

Budgerigars resting together (photo courtesy of M. Windeyer)
[Warrumbungle NP, near Coonabarabran, NSW, December 2013]

Budgerigars are small and swift fliers...
[Near Bugilbone, NSW, May 2020]

... often one gets the camera ready just as they vanish behind tree crowns
[Near Bugilbone, NSW, May 2020]

Food, Diet

Adults: Seeds Dependents: Regurgitated seeds Water intake: Daily

Buderigars are nomadic, moving in and out of areas with seeding grass.

Budgerigars are one of the few bird species that can ladle water into their throat using their tongue, similar to a cat, whereas most other bird species scoop water into their lower mandible.

Flock of Budgerigars drinking from a farm dam
[Sturt NP, NSW, September 2012]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

budgy_20200801.m4a	(NW NSW)	Contact calls (in-flight)	© MD
budgy_20190618.m4a	(SW QLD)	Q&A (pair)	© MD
budgy_20200304.m4a	(NW NSW)	Q&A (pair)	© MD
budgy_20190617.m4a	(SW QLD)	Courting pair	© MD
budgy_20190617_2.m4a	(SW QLD)	Interacting pair (inspecting nest)	© MD
budgy_20200518.m4a	(NW NSW)	Pair courting, then leaving	© MD
budgy_20200304_2.m4a	(NW NSW)	Departure (pair)	© MD
budgy_20190618_3.m4a	(SW QLD)	Squabbling group	© MD

More Budgerigar sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

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