Hi there, budgie experts!

I'd like to think I could tell whether my little 15-18 month budgie, Nugget, is a male or female. His/her cere was blue when we got him/ her, however, we took this with a pinch of salt as I know they can change from when they are babies.

I was leaning towards male as Nugget is very vocal and very good at mimicking- I even think he/she tries to talk. Then the cere changed to pinky and then crusty brown, leading me to think- female. Nugget "burrows" down my jumper sometimes and has a bit of a hard peck, which also confirmed to me that he/she could be a hen. Now the cere has gone back to blue, so I'm very confused!


Here is a picture of little Nugget- based on this photo and the behaviour, what do we think?

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Both male and female have a similar Ceres when not in breeding condition. I have a male and a female and both of light blue Ceres when not in breeding condition.

I'm more of an expert with budgies than with cockatiels.
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Don't judge a bird by it's feathers

Oh really??!

I never knew this. Everytime I research it, it's always the usual "male is blue" and "female is crusty brown or pink". Clearly this is not always the case.

How would you determine male and female behaviour then, in your opinion?

Thank you

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Nugget & Pickles

Behavior depends on the bird as an individual. Just because it talks or makes lots of noise doesn't always mean it's male.
"Burrowing" is something more commonly found in young budgies, but both males and females do it.
Biting hard is also found in both males and females, depends on the bird.

Sent from my Galaxy s8

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Don't judge a bird by it's feathers

I would be inclined to say from your pictures that little Nugget is a female. Even in the pictures with the blue cere, it is more white around the nostrils which is usually indicative of a female. Especially if Nugget has had the crusty brown cere of a female in breeding condition in the past.

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I can confirm that nugget is super cute. Anything else would just be pure speculation.


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