Budgerigars, the world's most widely known pet bird, are native to Australia. They have been introduced around the world, from New Zealand and Japan to South Africa, Switzerland, and the U.S., but have become successfully established only in southwest Florida. The tiny colorful parrots, which are often called "parakeets," a generic term for small parrots with long flat tails, in the U.S., have a yellow forehead, a yellow and black striped head with purple and black markings on the cheeks, a yellow throat, and a pointed bill. The wings are patterned in black, yellow, green, and blue hues -- with some patterns glowing under ultraviolet light, perhaps as an unseen (to the human eye) signal affecting mate selection.
Unlike many parrots, budgerigars can breed at any time of the year, although their breeding most often coincides with periods with a high abundance of grass seed, their food of choice, such as after a heavy rain. The birds are monogamous and breed in large colonies. Females pick the site for the nests, which are located in cavities in Eucalyptus trees, logs, and fence posts, and incubate the eggs while the male brings food to her and later to the fledglings, which hatch after an 18-day incubation period.
The highly social birds aggregate in large flocks for both foraging, which occurs after sunrise and throughout the day (except at midday or in very hot weather), and roosting after sunset.
Did you know? The budgerigar's colorful, scattered plumage patterns are accentuated under ultraviolet light.
