Budgerigars have two breeding seasons a year and can raise young for up to four years. Some budgie owners want their budgies to breed, which is why it is important to recognise breeding behaviour.
Budgerigars breed
Budgerigars only breed if they have nests available. Occasionally, a female budgie will lay an egg on the floor of the cage if she does not have a nest, but then she will not hatch the egg. As a general rule, private bird owners are not permitted to allow their birds to breed in order to protect them from parrot disease.
The breeding behaviour of budgerigars
In the wild, budgerigars breed in the seasons when there is enough food. In captivity, they can breed at any time as long as they have a nest. In most cases, budgerigars also breed in cages between April and October, during the warmer months of the year. Breeding can be controlled by providing the bird with nesting material at certain times.
A conspicuous sign that the bird is ready to breed is its flirting behaviour. Budgerigars that are ready to mate often chirp with the partner of the opposite sex, rub their beaks together and scratch each other. The male usually makes the first move by approaching the female and flapping his wings boastfully. During the mating and breeding season, plenty of light and healthy food is particularly important.
The female makes the nest and is mainly responsible for brooding. The female's readiness to mate can be recognised by the fact that she prepares a nest from anything she can find and even sits on the nest in a breeding position if there are no eggs yet. If you give her a proper nesting box, she will spend a lot of time inside. The nose wax skin above the beak turns an intense brown colour. Occasionally the female budgie will regurgitate food and feed it to another adult budgie, as she will later feed her young.
The male's mating behaviour is very conspicuous. He flirts a lot, fluffs his feathers boastfully and runs restlessly back and forth on the perch. His nose wax skin turns a bright blue colour. The male occasionally feeds his female as if she were already breeding.
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The budgerigar, Germany's most popular bird
