All the ways to tell a budgies gender?

[Carp5699]

Even after the many videos I've watched, I'm still not completely sure if my budgie is a male, so I'm asking here. What are all the possible ways to identify a budgies gender, from their appearance to the way they sound to the way they act. Looking at its cere isn't enough, I'm still confused if the dark blue means it's a boy or if the tiny bit of white means it's a girl.
I will be providing photos (the red stuff is strawberry) as well for the people that can easily tell from the cere, but I would still like to know the above for the future

 

[Sparkles99]

You have a beautiful boy! Cere colour is how to tell. Some mutations make it tricky; yours is straightforward. For tricky ones, Ripshod can still tell.

 

[Ripshod]

How old are they? Could be male but I see some whitening around the nares as you've noticed.
Some reading for you:

Ceres for those interested

Found it on FB just now (:

forums.avianavenue.com

 

[Carp5699]

Ah thank you thank you, I was starting to get concerned again

 

[Scorpi0]

All I see is a solid blue cere. Definitely a boy.

 

[Destiny]

It's definitely male. Most adult budgies are easy to gender. Younger birds can get tricky, especially mutations like ino, that can affect the cere color. But for the majority of the birds, the cere color is pretty clear hard to miss identify once they are over a year old.

These are mature male budgies:







Males tend to sing and they can be more friendly and less bossy, compared with hens. Hens also are more likely to seek out cavities or chew wood when they are feeling hormonal. But females will also sing and can have an array of personalities. And males will also chew wood. Cere color is your best bet.

Or wait until someone lays an egg. ;-)

 

[Ripshod]

That's what has got me with this one - the age. The barring is still visible quite far forward on the forehead, and the whitening around the nares.

 

[Carp5699]

How old are they? Could be male but I see some whitening around the nares as you've noticed.
Some reading for you:

Ceres for those interested

Found it on FB just now (:

forums.avianavenue.com

Oh I didn't notice the part asking for the age. The person from the place I got him said that all the budgies there were "too young to sex", but not the exact age

 

[Peachfaced]

I’m gonna say less than a year. Probably around 6 months.

 

[Destiny]

Lighting can also make a big difference. Natural light is best for photos. Artifical lights or pictures taken with a flash will bring out more color variation or whiteness, which makes it harder to distinguish gender, especially in young bird.

If your bird is younger than one year, their cere will be changing and it can be hard to determine gender. Patience is your best ally at that point. In a few months, it will probably become obvious

These two are immature boys (probably):



These budgies are under a year old, but I expect both of them to be boys, based on the uniform pinkish cere color. I am fairly confident that they are both male, although the one on the right sometimes makes me second guess myself in certain lighting. Time will tell.

And these two are immature females (confirmed):


Their color makes it harder to determine gender, but the cere has more white/pale color and more color variation, compared to the boys.

Here are the same birds a year later:


Nice tan/brown ceres, indicating they are both mature lady budgies and probably feeling pretty horomonal right now.

Here is another baby budgie - girl or boy?



This is Opal and she is female.

Here she is a year later with a nice crusty brown cere:


Budgies mature quickly, so it doesn't take that long to figure out gender, in most cases.

Hope the pictures help and good luck with your bird. He looks lovely.

 

[Carp5699]

I had to close the curtains because the natural light was making it actually harder to get a picture of the actual color, there was some dramatic lighting from it since it was morning

Lighting can also make a big difference. Natural light is best for photos. Artifical lights or pictures taken with a flash will bring out more color variation or whiteness, which makes it harder to distinguish gender, especially in young bird.

 

[Lori D Pert]

I'm still seeing some baby barring but the white around the nares is actually just a lighter blue. Male. If I had to guess I'd say around 6 months. The photo below is Scout at roughly 7 months.

 

[Ripshod]

I'm in agreement then. Male.

 

[Sparkles99]

I heard some mutations (I forget which ones) sometimes have the adult budgies retain some faint head barring. Maybe this is such a case.

 

[AussieBird]

One difference I find surprising is that there's generally a noticeable difference when a girl budgie bites you then when a boy does (I am not saying boys can't bite hard or that you should go get bite to figure out gender, this is just an observation from me and my flock).
Example: My budgie Snowflake had a habit of biting me, she's done it since she was little. When she was little I thought she was male going off her cere, whenever she bit me I would double check her cere, cause I was having a hard time believing a little boy would bite like that! Even though I sexed her wrong to begin with she is 100% a girl.
Again, please don't go get bit! (Not kind to you or your budgie) But you asked what are some behavioural differences and this is one I've noticed.

 

[Ripshod]

One difference I find surprising is that there's generally a noticeable difference when a girl budgie bites you then when a boy does (I am not saying boys can't bite hard or that you should go get bite to figure out gender, this is just an observation from me and my flock).
Example: My budgie Snowflake had a habit of biting me, she's done it since she was little. When she was little I thought she was male going off her cere, whenever she bit me I would double check her cere, cause I was having a hard time believing a little boy would bite like that! Even though I sexed her wrong to begin with she is 100% a girl.
Again, please don't go get bit! (Not kind to you or your budgie) But you asked what are some behavioural differences and this is one I've noticed.

100‰ agreed. No-one wants a bite from an angry budgie hen