Budgerigar
Melopsittacus undulatus· 鹦鹉科(2 photos)
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Budgerigar
17-20 cm. Bright green with yellow forehead/throat; upperparts closely barred; cere blue in male, paler in Non-breeding female, brown in breeding female. Immature: duller; forehead barred. Parties, flocks: feeds in grass, flushes chattering. Flight swift, showing yellow wingbar; at times flies in undulating hordes of many thousands. Rests in foliage during heat; drinks morning and afternoon; often with Cockatiels, Zebra Finches.
- Voice
- musical chirrup; zizzing chatter; rasping scolds.
- Habitat
- grasslands, spinifex, pastoral country, saltbush, mallee, mulga; eucalypts on watercourses, freshwater lakes; crops, roadsides.
- Breeding
- March-Sept., or after rain, in n.; Aug.-Jan. in s.; often many pairs in same hollow tree.
- Nest
- in hollow limb, stump, fence post.
- Eggs
- 4-6+; white, rounded.
- Range & Status
- inland, more arid Aust.: spring-summer movements (or in drought) to breed in sub-coastal s. Aust. In good seasons extends to sub-coastal n. Aust. (except C. York Pen.). In drought retreats to e., s. and w. coastal areas, Top End (NT). Abundant; highly nomadic.
