Ceres for those interested

[Geraldine16]

Its pretty good because I thought my hen was a male when their cere was light blue. Because I falsely assumed blue cere = male. Then I got her another hen as a partner. lol Oh well they get on good together.

I also assumed my female was male and have kept calling my budgies 'The Boys' but one is a girl. Where one goes one follows.

 

[Bonkers]

I also assumed my female was male and have kept calling my budgies 'The Boys' but one is a girl. Where one goes one follows.

I know this thread is truly awesome, but their appear to be so many exceptions to that rule of "Blue is a boy and pink is a girl" that I have almost given up. I also have selected at least two birds thinking pink meant girl.. nope!

Apparently... Brown (or white, or white around the nostrils, or light blue, or pink) = GIRL.. Blue (like deep, vibrant blue/purple) means BOY..

However, "Baby boys wear pink"...........

Bulbous and round = boy
dark brown, like a chocolate color = supposed to be a girl (*see pic)
deep hollow brown, almost black = mature, old, broody female.

Here is a bird I have that is a female, and I am not sure the pet store knew they had a "broody" bird (still not sure what "broody" means.)

*birdie does not know finger. I am holding birdie GENTLY

And here is a BOY that has me guessing because I see "White around the nostrils." (young)

 

[Monica]

Pink, purple or vibrant blue in adult means male

White, white with tan/blue, powdery blue, tan, brown or crusty brown in adult means female


Pink never means female in adult budgie!

 

[EnglishBudgMom]

I too am confused... breeder I got our Bubbles from said she was most likely female, due to white rings around cere "holes", but after asking questions on a FB English Budgie page, got scolded and lectured at, some guy said that Bubbles was a male. She/he is only 2.5 months old, so I already understand I might just have to wait to really determine male/female.

 

[Lady Jane]

When I first got my female EB now called Mickey everyone thought she was male, including the breeder. I had requested 2 male birds. However after she was older she developed a more white cere. The first photo shows her on the left side. Her cere is just about the same color as the male on the right. Second photo shows her at an age were cere was clearly female. I even got a partial refund from the breeder because he mistakenly said Mickey was male.

 

[EnglishBudgMom]

Okay, so today I took our new little English Budgie Bubbles to an Avian Vet and she wasn't sure of her gender either! Here is a picture I took about a week ago, in mostly natural lightning. The breeder thought she was female, so we've been using "her", because of the white around the "nostril" holes. ????

 

[Lady Jane]

@PoukieBear is the best member we have for gender ID. I am going to say male. How old id this bird? Still has a few baby bars on head.

 

[EnglishBudgMom]

She/He/It is almost 3 months old. What is making me so unsure is the white rings... Vet (who is a board certified Avian Vet-and former Oregon Zoo vet) was discussing blood type tests for gender in the future if we were still uncertain. Mainly because if I decide to get another English in the future, I'd prefer to NOT get a male/female pair. The Vet said then you have to worry about eggs/female getting egg bound, and all the headaches that go along with that. She said male/male is easiest paring. I'm not super worried about it right now, at least "Bubbles" for a name is gender neutral I am curious as to more experienced Budgie owners thoughts are however. Thanks again for your input! She/He/It, got a clean bill of health at the check-up today!! I was advised to let her wings grow out and leave her full flighted after we get her fully trained.

 

[Lady Jane]

I am glad you have decided not to cut flight feathers. Some breeders and stores will do this however, claiming its is there "policy". It takes almost a year for them to grow out. I give you a link to an article that spells out all the ramifications of cutting the ability of a young bird to fly. Yes I saw the white rings around nostrils but they are not very prominent. Bird is still young and that can change with the first molt.
Flock Call - Clipped Wings

 

[EnglishBudgMom]

Yes, the breeder clipped them as she said it's easier to train them as babies this way; which I don't disagree with actually. I can see the point of letting them grow out later however She/he keeps chewing/bothering the cut ends of her feathers, so it must have bothered her.

 

[PoukieBear]

He looks male to me. and over three months old too. Since he no longer has head bars, and has white irris rings, i would say he's closer to 6 months.

 

[Deleted member 29421]

When I first got my female EB now called Mickey everyone thought she was male, including the breeder. I had requested 2 male birds. However after she was older she developed a more white cere. The first photo shows her on the left side. Her cere is just about the same color as the male on the right. Second photo shows her at an age were cere was clearly female. I even got a partial refund from the breeder because he mistakenly said Mickey was male.

View attachment 289959 View attachment 289960

Those are absolutely gorgeous little birds!

 

[Lady Jane]

Thank you very much. Mickey was a bit of a mess when she was younger. She was the smallest and weakest of the clutch but I fell for her anyway.

 

[Deleted member 29421]

Thank you very much. Mickey was a bit of a mess when she was younger. She was the smallest and weakest of the clutch but I fell for her anyway.

I always go for the pitiful ones too. I love watching the transformation.

 

[EnglishBudgMom]

He looks male to me. and over three months old too. Since he no longer has head bars, and has white irris rings, i would say he's closer to 6 months.

I suppose it's entirely possible he/she is older (it doesn't bother me either way). There are bars going down almost to the nose... it might be the angle of the picture. I never noticed any iris rings, but I'm still a total newbie to all this. This picture was taken right after we brought her/him home. The breeder swears the hatch date is 8/31. Thank you for your opinions guys! I really appreciate it! This is all new to me, so it's really helpful! Tonight we had her out for awhile and I offered her some water in a small dish while she was sitting on my shoulder. She proceeded to bathe in the little dish, thoroughly spraying me in the face! It was funny.

 

[EnglishBudgMom]

When I first got my female EB now called Mickey everyone thought she was male, including the breeder. I had requested 2 male birds. However after she was older she developed a more white cere. The first photo shows her on the left side. Her cere is just about the same color as the male on the right. Second photo shows her at an age were cere was clearly female. I even got a partial refund from the breeder because he mistakenly said Mickey was male.

View attachment 289959 View attachment 289960

I love their head floof! I love all the floof!! Is there a technical term for the floofage??

 

[Deleted member 29421]

Ceres and gender id is confusing enough....then throw in the losing of their bars on their head and the iris rings to make it even more confusing. What if they dont have the iris rings but the bars on their head are gone? And what about the spots they get on their neck? All of these things are supposed to tell you the approximate age of a budgie but I have one that is a fluttering contradiction.

 

[Lady Jane]

floofage

I think you just found a good name.

 

[Lady Jane]

You may want to become familiar with the anatomy of a budgie.

 

[PoukieBear]

I love their head floof! I love all the floof!! Is there a technical term for the floofage??

The FLOOF on the English Budgie is called “Directional Feather”, or “Cap”. They are specifically bred for large feathers, large throat spots, and beautiful long feathers.

Ceres and gender id is confusing enough....then throw in the losing of their bars on their head and the iris rings to make it even more confusing. What if they dont have the iris rings but the bars on their head are gone? And what about the spots they get on their neck? All of these things are supposed to tell you the approximate age of a budgie but I have one that is a fluttering contradiction.

It all depends on the birds mutation. Some mutations don’t lose their head bars, some mutations don’t ever develop iris rings, and even being split for a mutation will prevent iris rings from developing.

Throat spots have nothing to do with sex, mostly mutation and selective breeding.