How to Tell How Old a Yellow Parakeet Is?

If you have ever had a pet parakeet, you likely know that unlike people, it can be very difficult to detect ages of birds. Many pet parakeets look almost exactly the same from for their entire lives, and many chain pet shops do not label parakeets with ankle bands. Fortunately, there are a few subtle changes in a bird that you can look for to determine your birds' approximate age. As yellow parakeets age, the feathers on their heads and the color of their irises change in subtle ways.

Instructions

    • 1

      Look for your parakeet's cap feathers. These are the feathers on the very top of the birds' head, which extend from its beak region to the crown of the head.

    • 2

      Search for striped feathers along the head and neck. Many yellow parakeets have striped feathers along the back of the head and neck.

    • 3

      Determine if the striped feathers stop at the very back of the head, or if they extend all the way up to the crown of the head and down to the beak. If the striped feathers stop at the back of the head or the bird doesn't have any striped feathers on its head, it has gone through its first molt and is older than 3 to 4 months. If the bird has striped feathers on its crown and down its face, it is a juvenile and is less than 3 to 4 months old.

    • 4

      Look at your bird's eyes and determine if you can see its irises. If the bird's eyes look entirely black, it is under 4 months old.

    • 5

      Inspect the color of its irises, if they are different than the color of its pupils. If they are very dark gray, your bird is between 4 to 6 months old. Medium gray irises indicate that your parakeet is between 6 and 8 months. If your bird's irises are almost white, it is over 8 months old.