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Possible To Breed Lovebirds & Budgies Together?

HungryBird

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Obviously I'm not going to be doing this! Just curious. Someone posted elsewhere that they had a lovebird and a budgie in the same cage as they were bonded to each other and then eggs appeared. One of them hatched. They posted pictures but I can't really tell if it is a normal baby budgie or a normal baby lovebird because I have no experience with baby birds. It definitely looks weird to me.

I told them I had heard that it is possible for birds to breed even when they are separated by cage bars so maybe that was what happened. This person has other budgies so I figured maybe one of them snuck over when no one was looking. The lovebird is very protective of the budgie though so that might not have worked so well.

I'm not advocating mixing different species at all and the person who posted these pictures wasn't trying to get this to happen either. They seemed very surprised and are looking for answers. No one has been able to give them any concrete answers so I decided to try to find someone who might know. I did suggest asking they ask their vet if they can determine whether it is a cross between a budgie and a lovebird or just a budgie.
 

Babybreau

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My male lovie and female cockatiel are very bonded. I call them my "odd couple". lol They do mate, however my male lovie is far too small for "anything" to happen...lol Kessie does lay eggs, but obviously infertile. They are 2 seperate families from 2 separate continents so no way they cold have viable babies.
 

DJJEEP

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I have 18 budgies, 1 lovebird and 4 cockatiels in a big outside cage. I want to ask something that I can not get answers to, so here it goes; I captured a lovebird +/- 2 months ago at my cage and placed it with the budgies, nothing happened as I know that they are aggressive to budgies or that is what is said. The lovebird (male) took one of my albino budgies (female) as his mate. I was not concerned as I know they can not mate. They (lovebird and budgie) started to mate. And laid eggs and what happened next one of the eggs hatched. The baby (3 weeks old) is bigger that the budgie, and I must make note that there is no other lovebirds in the cage and that the budgie is a female, is this possible? And if so is it then a new specie of bird? Pleas help.


The last 2 photos is last week Thursday and the other photos was taken on Sunday the 14th. The mom is the white budgie and the dad the lovebird in the photo. Pleas let me know what you think.The first 2 photos is last week Thursday and the last is photos taken Sunday. The mom is the white budgie and the dad the lovebird in the photo. Pleas let me know what you think.
 

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DJJEEP

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Danie Jacobs
Here is a photo of a budgie baby and the eyes, beak and head looks different, I do know that budgies do not have black beaks. The head is noticeable bigger than that of a budgie and this bird is in the nest now for about 4 weeks.
 

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DJJEEP

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I took the liberty of searching for photos of baby lovebirds and budgies, looking at the similarities of the lovebird baby to my one and that of a budgie.
 

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chompie_puppy

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Actually, it depends on the mutation of the Budgie to whether or not it has a black beak when it is young.

Here's a number of baby Budgies with black beaks:

Cute_Baby_Parakeet_by_Eisaku_Panda.jpg

baby_budgie(1).jpg

budgie_baby_1.jpg

twitter.jpg

With baby Budgies it is very important to check them over every single day. Their beaks can become deformed by getting food stuck under the top mandible. This food hardens and stunts the growth of the beak, causing it to look different to that of a normal Budgie's.

This is a very severe case, but I thought I'd show you what I'm talking about anyway:

SDC12404.jpg
 

HungryBird

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So glad to see you posted pictures here! You should name the baby bird Lovebudgie!

So it is definitely a budgie and not a love bird right?
 

expressmailtome

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Yes. Definitely a budgie.

Matt
 

Monica

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I've actually come across a book(s) that lists that budgies and lovebirds have hybridized.

Handbook of avian hybrids of the world - Google Books

Agapornis canus (Grey Headed Lovebird) x Melopsittacus undulatus (Budgerigar)Page reported a hybrid that survived to leave the nest. Prestwich quotes Dr. Karl Russ; "A very interesting hybrid breeding has succeeded in the bird-room of Baron von Grote. AS this gentleman informs us, a short time ago a hybrid between a Madagascar Lovebird and a hen Budgerigar left the nest. This bird has the shape and markings of a Budgerigar, but the head, neck, and about half the upper surface show the colouration of a young Madagascar Lovebird. It is very strong and healthy." Prestwich says Russ's description indicates that the hybrid was fully reared.


Agapornis nigrigenis (Black Cheeked Lovebird) x Melopsittacus undulatus (Budgerigar)
-a generally reliable source, says "Our esteemed member Mrs. Higginbotham has four young of the above cross hatched out and doing well. The male of the pair of Black-cheeks forsook his own mate and paired up with the budgerigar. Seven eggs were duly laid, of which four duly hatched out, both parens shared the dusties of uncubation"


Agapornis roseicollis (Rosy Faced Lovebird) x Melopsittacus undulatus (Budgerigar)
"A friend of mine has a young bird from a Peachfaced lovebird and a Green Budgerigar."

It lists quite a few hybrids actually, although to be honest, without unedited photos (or better yet, videos), there will be many that I don't believe truly occurred.
 

Chicobo

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I can't imagine it's possible, but you never know. Weirder things HAVE happened. I can't imagine that a budgie would actually allow insemination by a lovebird, either -- most female birds are very particular about their partners and seem to recognize when a bird is a different species.

Then again, on Talk Budgies once a pair of finches actually incubated and HATCHED eggs laid by a budgie -- and the chicks survived! Now, that's not an example of cross-breeding, but I found it bizarre that finches would incubate budgie eggs at all, much less to a successful hatch. Nature is bizarre.
 
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