scott@mccall.uucp (10/27/89)
My wife and I are basically new parakeet(budgie) owners(we've had them for a little over a year). We had two females(Pumkin and Peanut) for about 6-9 months who got along pretty well, then we bought another one (Cheebee, thinking it was female, but I think it is male). Now Cheebee and Peanut get along good but have relaitvely nothing to do with Pumkin. We think Pumkin is very lonely but not sure. We were wondering whether we should get another bird for Pumkin. But don't want another one that will ignore her either. Here are my questions: Does the Cere (the wasy area above the beak) tell the sex budgies? Ie. brown/tan for females and blue for males? Are budgies homogenius(I think this is the right word) with their mates? Meaning do they keep the same mate? What are the pluses and minuses of getting another budgie? Will it help Pumkin with her lonelyness? Thanks -- Scott Davis (800)255-2762, in Kansas (913)776-3683 The McCall Pattern Company, 615 McCall Rd., Manhattan, KS 66502, USA UUCP: rutgers!ksuvax1!mccall!scott Internet: scott%mccall@ksuvax1.cis.ksu.edu
dmark@acsu.Buffalo.EDU (David Mark) (10/29/89)
In article <1555.25480de6@mccall.uucp> scott@mccall.uucp writes: >Here are my questions: > >Does the Cere (the wasy area above the beak) tell the sex budgies? >Ie. brown/tan for females and blue for males? In healthy adult budgies, the cere of the male is bright blue, and of the female is brown. But, in young birds (and you should buy them young especial- ly if you want them to be tame, or to "talk" [=mimic]), the male has a pink cere with a bluish edge, the female a whiet cere with a bluish edge. > >Are budgies homogenius(I think this is the right word) with their mates? >Meaning do they keep the same mate? "Monogamous" is the word you want. Budgies and (as far as I know all other parrots are monogamous, and stay together year round in the wild, and mate "for life" (i.e., as long as their mate is around). > >What are the pluses and minuses of getting another budgie? Will it >help Pumkin with her lonelyness? Budgies are highly social. In the wild, they travel in flocks of hundreds or more often thousands. An isolated pair will seldom breed. So, the more the merrier, as long as you have the space. Of course, it is highly unlikely that birds experience emotions as complex as "lonely" or "happy". David Mark dmark@cs.buffalo.edu