Do Male and Female Budgies Act Differently?

While male and female budgies do display different behaviors from time to time, they have many common behavioral traits. Budgie owners often report fascinating and interesting personalities among individual birds. While budgies can literally bite the hand that feeds them when they are fearful, in general they are good-natured birds that enjoy playing and have a remarkable natural curiosity. Owners promote their fun-loving natures and inquisitiveness by providing them with toys and nutritional foods.

  1. Male Singers

    • It is a part of male budgie behavior to sing, and some males demonstrate a real love of singing beyond their instinctive urges. Budgies will sing to themselves or to their pals sharing their cage. Older budgies teach the younger ones to sing and as they mature, they often create distinctive melodies filled with warbles, croaks, tweets and even screeches. Sometimes, a budgie will use some external sound, such as a bell inside his cage, as accompaniment to enhance his song.

    Singing with Purpose

    • As a singer, male budgies are known to boast their prowess to other males. However, when they trill and warble to a female, it is a major part of their courtship. When a pair of budgies begins to bond, the male sings to his would-be mate, moving his head up and down to supplying her food that he has regurgitated.

    Budgie Breeding

    • Budgies breeding behavior is quite predictable. ̶0;Talking̶1; continually to the female, the male comes close to her, tapping her beak and moving his beak up and down next to hers. A female interested in mating ducks her head and lifts her tail. The male then poises above her, wraps his wings downward to surround her and then begins rubbing his reproductive organs against hers. This mating ritual is quick and is frequently repeated several times.

    Aggressive Hormonal Females

    • Although male and female budgies are normally happy, docile and playful, when a female is preparing to build a nest and is ̶0;hormonal,̶1; they become exceptionally hostile and sometimes extremely violent, especially toward other female budgies. Owners report hormonal females attacking and killing other females, particularly when they share a small cage. Some owners with several budgies in one large cage have reported that nesting females do not become violent if they have nesting space. However, it̵7;s is recommended that hormonal females be separated from other females during this time.

    Raising the Chicks

    • Female budgies lay between two and nine eggs that are incubated for about 18 days. After the eggs hatch, the young budgies are featherless and sightless. Their mother feeds them while the male budgie feeds its mate. Once the budgie chicks are older, the female will leave them in the nest occasionally as the male budgies begins helping feed them. Once they are sufficiently nurtured, the male takes over the rearing process and eventually weans them.