Ask Lafeber

Question:

October 2, 2020

My Budgie’s gender


Hello,
I have recently gotten a new budgie and well- the owners said its a cock but we have suspicions. I have read a lot of information online regarding how to identify a gender of a budgie but my family and I continue to have contradicting arguments. The age of my budgie is not precisely known but for sure, it is older than 4 months and probably around 12 months..?The feet of my budgie are pinkish grey, the cere is like a light cornflower blue with a hint of light purple? the area near the nares is a bit faded white but we aren’t sure if it is the white that determines a male from female. A little help? I would attach a photo here but I don’t know how haha but I have added a link for a photo which I’m not sure will work but I can try. Please reply when this reaches you 🙂

THANK YOU!


Answer:

Hi Jasmine,

It used to be fairly easy to determine the gender of budgies/parakeets by the cere color. All budgies start out with lavender-pink ceres. As they get closer to a year old, the cere turns blue for males and white for females. When they are in breeding condition, the male’s cere can be brighter blue and the female’s cere can get crusty looking and turn brown. However, there are so many color mutations these days, and the cere color is not consistent with many of the newer mutations. If the bird is one of the paler or pastel colors, the cere color may not ever change. The same goes for solid white or solid yellow budgies. Sometimes, a thin white ring around the nostrils can indicate a female. You are welcome to email a photo or photos to customerservice@lafeber.com and ask them to forward it to me.

Behavior can also be a good indicator, but also is not 100%. The males tend to be more talkative and friendly with people. The females can have a loud, scratchy sound and always sound like they are fussing at something. They tend to not be as tame as males. But as with the cere color, there can be exceptions. The only way to know for sure, short of the bird laying an egg, is to have a DNA test performed. There are kits you can order online or most Avian Vets can take the sample and send it off for you. The cost varies by lab and whether you have the Vet help you. I’ll look forward to reviewing the photos and maybe I can help.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda

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