Interesting facts about parakeets

Before you get your parakeet you want to learn some facts about parakeets? I chose the most important and interesting ones to list them here so you can learn about your new pet.

The bird from the photo bellow is called a parakeet in USA but in UK it is known as a budgie and in Australia it is referred to as a budgerigar.

Parakeet in non-USA countries would be any little parrot with a very long tail.

General facts about parakeets

• Latin name for this bird is Melopsittacus undulatus.


• Parakeet is 18 cm long (7 inches).


• Body mass of a male parakeet is 30 to 40 grams.


• Its country of origin is Australia.


• They live in very big flocks.


• Female can lay 4 to 9 eggs.


• Eggs hatch after about 3 weeks.


• Baby parakeets fly out of the nest after 4 to 5 weeks.


• They can start breeding when they are 6 months old.


• Parakeets change feathers every year.


• Parakeet life span is 14 years by books, more like 8 to 10 in reality but there have been cases of parakeets living 22 years.

Interesting facts about parakeets

• The first pair of parakeets was exported from Australia in 1840. The price for that pair was enormous.


• Parakeet can learn to talk. A male can learn several hundred words and female can learn about a hundred.


• There is a case of a male parakeet from London that knew 2.000 words.


• Never feed them human food, they can die from salt intake.


• Basic color of a parakeet is green but they have been bred in many different colors now (check the list of parakeet colors).


• When frightened, a parakeet will fly towards the light so he can hit a window, it is better to prevent it by putting curtains in windows.


• In Australia, parakeets have natural enemies in form of bigger predator birds and snakes.


• The part above the beak is called "cere".


• Cere's color shows us the gender of the parakeet, males have blue and females have brown cere.


• Young birds have different cere color, males have pinkish cere and females have whiteish.


• Parakeets have 4 toes, two facing front and two facing back (parrots usually have feet like this while other birds have 3 facing front and one facing back).


• Parakeets pee and poop at the same time.


• When you get a parakeet from a pet show it is usually an ?American? one, ?English? ones are more show birds.


• If a parakeet throws up at you it means he considers you a family member, and he is trying to feed you.