Parakeets are popular pet options for people living in the US. They are friendly and sociable to humans and other surrounding birds. What is a parakeet exactly?
The parakeet is a small to medium sized bird that is a part of the parrot family. The word parakeet actually means “long tail” or “long tailed” which refers to the long back tails of the parakeet. Parrots are known for their square back tails while parakeets are a smaller, long tailed bird.
Many small birds are often labeled with the term parakeet. The most common bird to be called a parakeet is that of the budgie or budgerigar. The names of parakeet and budgies often are interchangeable. In reality the parakeet is the main group of birds while the budgie is just one of many smaller sub-genres of birds in which the budgie falls into that category.
Parakeets Where they Came From
While most parakeets that you are likely to encounter come from in house breeding, however there are over 5 million parakeets in the wild. The parakeet actually has a long history of where it originally came from. Parakeets are from the continent of Australia. These little birds can usually be found flying around the arid and dry interior area of Australia. During the winter months the parakeets actually have some sort of migration and can be seen migrating in a northwesterly direction of Australia. If you were to find the right climate area of Australia, one that is semi-humid and dry, then there would be hundreds of parakeets available for viewing.
Parakeet Biology
How long is the life expectancy of the parakeet? Well, that varies. Some parakeets can last for as little as 2 to 3 years, while other parakeets can live for up to 15 years or more. The average life expectancy of a parakeet is usually between 4 to 9 years.
The parakeet is on average 18 to 20 centimeters in height and weighs in at 20-40 grams.
Parakeets contain a very distinctive way to determine male and female parakeets. Male parakeets have light to dark blue cere, which is almost like a colored nose. Female parakeets are known to have beige or white ceres that can get a darker tone during breeding season. Females are usually dominate type of bird amongst the parakeets and therefore are actually harder to train then male birds. A female parakeet is also a lot nosier then their male counterparts.
Breeding season for a parakeet is year round. There is no certain time of year that these birds need to couple. When breeding does take place the parakeets are usually capable of creating a cluth that contains between 4 and 8 eggs.
Parakeet Interesting Facts
Parakeets that are born in the wild are smaller then those born in captivity. The cause of this is unknown.
Sometimes parakeet features are fluorescent under ultra violet lights. Research suggests that this could have an influence on breeding, courtship and mate selection
There are hundreds of thousands of varieties of parakeets. All vary in size, color combinations, and other differences. Even with all these varieties there are only 32 main colors for parakeets. It is the combination of these colors that make the different parakeet types.
