Species · Bird

Budgerigar

Melopsittacus undulatus

Native to inland Australia, where they move in flocks of thousands. The world's most commonly kept pet bird.

A budgie is not a beginner's cockatiel. It is a highly social flock bird that in the wild travels enormous distances and is almost never alone. Kept in pairs with room to fly, they are delightful, busy, talkative little animals. Kept singly in the small cages sold for them, they are a bird with nothing to do — and the resulting feather-plucking and screaming get blamed on the bird.

At a glance

Lifespan: 5–10 years
Adult weight: 30–40 g
Daily attention: 1–2 hrs out
Alone time tolerated: Never keep one alone
Minimum housing: Flight cage or aviary
Noise level: Constant chatter
Feather dust: Moderate
With children: Supervised only
With other pets: Not with cats

Mutations · 7 listed

Budgerigars have been bred for colour longer than almost any other pet bird, and the mutation list is enormous. None of it changes their care.

Light green
Sky blue
Lutino
Albino
Spangle
Pied
Cinnamon

Right for you if

You will keep at least two. This is the whole ballgame.
You want an active, chattery bird rather than a cuddly one.
You have room for a proper flight cage, not a starter cage.
A five to ten year commitment fits your circumstances.

Wrong for you if

You want one bird that bonds only to you.
You have cats.
You want quiet. They chatter all day, cheerfully and constantly.
You are buying it as a low-effort first pet for a child.

Welfare and sourcing — read this part

An all-seed bowl does the same damage here as in cockatiels, and adds obesity, fatty liver disease, and the iodine-deficiency goitre budgerigars get on seed alone.¹ But seed itself is not the enemy at this size: the recommendation for a budgerigar is roughly half pellets and a third seed mix, with vegetables and a little fruit.² It is the all-seed bowl that kills, not the seed.
Budgerigars are the species pituitary tumours turn up in most, and they can show as seizures, blindness or a bird that suddenly cannot fly. Neoplasia in pet birds is not confined to old age.³ An avian vet is not optional for this species.
The show-bred English budgerigar and the pet type are not the same bird. Know which you are being offered, and ask the breeder what lifespan they actually see in their line.
Overheated non-stick cookware releases fumes that kill birds quickly.⁴⁵ If you keep birds, this changes what you cook with.

Sources

Hoppes SM. Nutritional Diseases of Pet Birds. MSD Veterinary Manual, professional edition. MSD Veterinary Manual 2026. Accessed 2026-08-31. International MSD Veterinary Manual Much of what ails pet birds starts in malnutrition — liver, kidney, respiratory, bone and reproductive disease. All-seed diets, and even half-seed half-pellet diets, are deficient in vitamin A. Sedentary birds on mainly seed show a high incidence of fatty liver disease and heart failure. Budgerigars on iodine-poor all-seed diets develop goitre, though fortified diets have made that uncommon.
Hoppes SM. Management of Pet Birds — Nutrition. MSD Veterinary Manual, professional edition. MSD Veterinary Manual 2026. Accessed 2026-08-31. International MSD Veterinary Manual The two most common causes of malnutrition in companion birds are feeding pure seed, and feeding a bowl the bird can pick through — it eats the seed and leaves the rest. For small birds such as budgerigars and cockatiels the recommendation is 40 to 50% pellets and 30 to 40% seed mix, with vegetables and a little fruit. Large parrots are different, at 80% pellets.
Hoppes SM. Neoplastic Diseases of Pet Birds. MSD Veterinary Manual, professional edition. MSD Veterinary Manual 2026. Accessed 2026-08-31. International MSD Veterinary Manual Pituitary adenomas are most prevalent in budgerigars and can present as seizures, ataxia, blindness or difficulty flying. Neoplasia occurs in pet birds of all ages, with incidence rising as they get older.
Wells RE, Slocombe RF. Acute toxicosis of budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus) caused by pyrolysis products from heated polytetrafluoroethylene: microscopic study. American Journal of Veterinary Research 1982; 43(7):1243-8. International PMID 7103206 Budgerigars exposed to fumes from heated non-stick coating developed severe necrotising, haemorrhagic pneumonitis. Heated uncoated aluminium was the control.
Shuster KA, Brock KL, Dysko RC, DiRita VJ, Bergin IL. Polytetrafluoroethylene toxicosis in recently hatched chickens (Gallus domesticus). Comparative Medicine 2012; 62(1):49-52. International PMID 22330651 Mass mortality (92% and 80% of two groups) traced to PTFE-coated heat-lamp bulbs. Birds are highly sensitive to inhaled toxicants.

Every source here was checked, not recalled. Where this page makes a health statement and no source appears against it, that is not an oversight we have hidden — it means the claim is not yet sourced, and the build reports how many are in that state.

Availability, registration and keeping requirements differ from place to place. Check the rules where you live before you commit to any animal — we describe animals, not law.