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Etymology
At least three possible origins for the English name budgerigar have
been proposed:
* A compound of budgery, "good" and gar "cockatoo". Budgerigar means
"good eating" or "good food" in some Australian Aboriginal
languages. This is supported by the Oxford English Dictionary.
The word budgery itself, also spelt boojery, was formerly in use in
Australian English slang meaning "good".
* An alteration of Gamilaraay gidjirrigaa possibly influenced by the slang word budgery mentioned above. This
is supported by the American Heritage Dictionary.
The genus name Melopsittacus comes from Greek and means "melodious
parrot". The species name undulatus is Latin for "undulated" or
"wave-patterned".
Characteristics
Adult females (left above) have pink to brown ceres while adult
males (right above) have blue ceres.
Adult females (left above) have pink to brown ceres while adult
males (right above) have blue ceres.
Appearance
Budgerigars are about 18 cm long and weigh 30-40 grams. Wild
budgerigars have green underparts and rumps, while the upperparts
are barred with black and yellow. The forehead and face is yellow in
adults, and barred black with yellow in young till they change into
their adult plumage at 3-4 months of age. Each cheek has a small
dark purple patch and a series of black spots (called the
"necklace") across the throat. The tail is greenish blue or purple;
outside tail feathers have a central yellow band. Their wings have
greenish-black flight feathers and black coverts with yellow
fringes. Bill olive grey and legs greyish blue, with zygodactyl
toes. Wild budgerigars are noticeably smaller than those in
captivity. These parrots have been bred in many other colours in
captivity, such as white, blue, and even purple, although they are
mostly found in pet stores in blue, green and seldomly white.
The colour of the cere (the area containing the nostrils) differs
between the sexes; royal blue in males, pale-brown to white(non-breeding)
or brown (breeding) in females and pink in immatures of both sexes
(usually of a more even purplish-pink colour in young males). Young
females can often be identified by a subtle chalky whiteness that
starts around the cere nostril holes. Males that are albinos,
lutinos or recessive pieds usually retain the immature purplish-pink
cere color their entire life.
Colour Mutations
There are presently at least 32 primary mutations in the budgerigar,
enabling hundreds of possible secondary mutations (stable combined
primary mutations) & colour varieties (unstable combined mutations).
Each of these primary mutations falls into one of four basic groups:
* Albinism, in which eumelanin (dark pigment) is reduced in all body
tissues & structures. It may be complete (a complete absence of
eumelanin) or partial (an incomplete reduction in the amount of
eumelanin).
* Dilutism, in which eumelanin incompletely reduced, almost
exclusively in feathering.
* Leucism, in which all pigmentation is reduced, almost exclusively
in feathering.
* Melanism, in which eumelanin is increased virtually only in
feathering.
Each of these mutations is inherited in via one of the following
dominance relationships:
* Autosomal co-cominant
* Autosomal complete dominant
* Autosomal incomplete dominant
* Autosomal recessive
* Autosomal polygenic
* Sex-linked recessive
Because birds have a ZW sex-determination system, sex-linked
recessive phenotypes are more common in females than in males,
rather than the reverse as is found the more familiar XY
determination of humans.
Personality
Young male budgie of split dominant pied coloration. Budgerigars,
especially males, are very tame house pets.
Young male budgie of split dominant pied coloration. Budgerigars,
especially males, are very tame house pets.
Budgerigars are, very generally speaking, accepting of humans and
other birds, but should never be housed with a bird other than
another budgerigar. Care should be taken even when placing two
budgies together, as they can do serious harm to one another if they
do not get along. They are relatively easily tamed. |
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