New budgie baby! Not sure about gender

BudgieJeffery said:

I agree. Male baby budgies will have a pinkish- purple cere which will turn deep blue at maturity. It still can be difficult to be sure however. I am only referring to non-mutations however which your budgie is. I mean it's not only one color or part English budgie etc. It's a standard budgie without the green and yellow.

Click to expand...

Thank you! I’ve been reading up on budgie genetics and I believe this budgie has some violet factor, as visually she appears quite purple. It’s not as obvious in the pictures, for some reason. I’m not sure what counts as a mutation, but she’s a lovely light violet all the way down her back. I was also wondering — are the light-colored bands on her head something that will darken as she ages, or will she have those light bands into adulthood?

Cody said:

Looks good, how does she like it? Now that I can see the bird's full body it appears the wings are clipped so she will not be able to fly for months, until the clipped feathers molt out and regrow. Be careful with that carboard tube, I know someone whose bird got stuck in one and died because the owner was not paying attention and the bird could not free itself and I am assuming died because the breathing was restricted because of the tightness of the tube around it. You can just put a slit in it across the length of it so if she crawls in it it would expand, if it is flexible.

Click to expand...

I cut the cardboard! I didn’t even think about her getting stuck in it. Thank you!!

Yes, unfortunately her wings are clipped. They are quite short! Her flying is pretty weak, but she still gets around.

At first, both birds seemed much less active and less happy, which was a little sad. But they have since perked up somewhat and started singing and foraging. Blue seemed less impacted by the change than the baby, but she’s lived alone her whole life, so she’s probably fairly comfortable that way. The baby is more disturbed to be alone. She did a lot of panicked-sounding flock calling to Blue at first (Blue barely calls back). But she’s settled down and doesn’t flock call as much now. But if Blue ever does call, the baby responds five or six times in a row.

At least this will give me time to tame the baby before she joins Blue in the big cage. We’re making progress. She’s already voluntarily hopped onto my hand for some millet, which makes me happy.

Look at that little face

Why thank you! When I took the photo, I thought, hey, I’m getting better at this! 🤣

Darcy is from one of my all-time favorite books, Pride and Prejudice! ❤ Definitely a literary name as well as a popular Australian name. It has a modern twist, since Darcy is the main male character in Pride and Prejudice and my birdie is (probably) female.

I think Adelaide is a literary name as well, although it’s not from a story I’ve read. It’s an Australian city, though, and a popular girl name in Australia. There was a historical figure named Queen Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen who the city Adelaide was actually named after.

I was going for an Australian theme, although I’m tempted to stick with a literary theme now. I have lots of beloved names to choose from that way. 😍

Honestly, after watching Darcy fly around, I don’t think it’s safer to clip the wings at all! Blue is able to turn, aim, fly straight, etc. while Darcy struggles with all of those things, which means more bumping into walls and crash landings. It does mean I can handle her a bit more, which might be a plus for taming, but I like my animals to do the things that are natural for them, and for birds that means flying! 🐥