Rashu's Bird Palace
You want to know if your budgie is a male or a female...
Ceres and Sexing in Budgerigars
Easier access to information has the drawback of easier access to misinformation. Budgies are notoriously incorrectly sexed due to abundance of misinformation presented in online blogs, and shared by word of mouth. This page is where we will discuss how it is done! Get ready, because this is going to be a wild ride...just kidding, it's pretty easy.
Quick Notes
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Budgerigars are sexually dimorphic from the day they hatch through their lifetime. That means males and females can be visually sexed from day zero!
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Cere colour gradually changes with time very differently in each sex. The change remains consistent and distinct in each sex.
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Cere colour is extremely sensitive to light, so the changes are extremely hard to photograph prior to 2 weeks of age.
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Natural light reveals the true cere colour! Indoor lighting makes sexing challenging.
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Expect to see shiny pink, opaque white (younger than 2 weeks), opaque pink (younger than 3 weeks), uniform deep pink, indigo and royal blue in male ceres with age.
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Expect to see dull pink, translucent white, textured muted pink and blue, mixture of skyblue and white and brown in female ceres with age.
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The parent colour blue is common to ceres of both sexes; but the overall tone, hue and appearance of the cere is distinct in each sex.
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Solid pink cere is a characteristic of male budgerigars!
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Pink for girls and blue for boys is NOT a rule of thumb to follow, because it is highly inaccurate!
What do male ceres look like?
Hatchling
Some male hatchlings will radiate a strong pink sheen on their cere. This strong pink is not present in female chicks. We have a male who has just hatched in this image.
Week Old
At about a week old, the cere colour will lighten to an opaque pale pink or opaque white. The colour will present pretty even throughout the cere.
Two Weeks
Around the two weeks' mark the cere will slightly lighten to a more opaque white with a slight pinkish tinge to it. Even tone of colour distribution is maintained.
Third Week
By third week, a male is mostly prickly and his cere begins to deepen and gain a more solid pink tone. Colour distribution remains uniform throughout the cere.
Week Four
Around 4 weeks is when they go from mostly feathered to about fully feathered. The pink of the cere has deepened enough to where someone with limited experience can identify the bird as a male! This pink cere will be maintained until the male reaches sexual maturity.
Fully Feathered Fledgling and Juvenile
You would want to look for a solid pink with even distribution of uniform colour on the cere in young males. If you are shopping at a pet store or purchasing from a breeder - this is the information that will help you identify males!
Mature Male
The male has sexually matured after a few months of age. And you have heard males have blue ceres. If you see a rich shade of shiny blue coloration on a cere, it is a sexually mature male. The strength of the shine and depth of blue will vary through different phases of the body's hormonal state.
Older Versus Younger Male
On the left you see the shiny deep blue cere of a sexually mature male (9 months old). On the right you see a fledgling male (6 weeks old) with a solid, deep pink coloured cere.
Notable Exceptions
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Males who visually present with specific pattern mutations will retain the juvenile pink cere at sexual maturity. Their cere colour will look almost identical to a young fledgling's for life. If you can visually sex a young male, you can identify an adult male who keeps a pink coloured cere. Easy!
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Young males may have a lighter pink ring around the nostrils. Mature males may have a lighter blue rings around the nostrils. Not to be confused for the white rings around a female's nostrils.
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Common mutations where this occurs include Ino (Albino or Lutino) and Recessive Pied.
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Dominant Pied varieties may demonstrate a multicolour/mottled appearance on the cere, exhibiting mixture of strong pink and purple hues, depending on how intensely the face has been affected by reduction in pigments.
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Very young birds often develop heavy melanin pigmentation, colouring their beak black. This may sometimes extend to the cere, turning the cere very dark - preventing the true colour from being assessed for sexing.
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Mature males may present with a brown keratin coating over the cere as a result of iodine deficiency or medical conditions involving the reproductive system.
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Multicoloured cere of a Dominant Pied male
Some dominant pied males will present with a mixture of blue and pink coloration on there ceres due to reduction of pigments around the facial features. The degree of variation in cere colour will vary, but will remain very distinct from females.
Pink cere of a mature Recessive Pied
A one year old adult recessive pied male illustrated has retained the juvenile pink cere, and will maintain this coloration for life. The cere will gain a little more depth when he is hormonal. His cere will not transition to deep blue due to how Recessive Pied mutation affects facial features and pigmentation.
Abnormal browning of a male's cere
The male illustrated was iodine deficient and as a result the shiny blue cere developed a keratin coating. This is indicative of a medical problem. Common causes include iodine deficiency and hormonal imbalance due to conditions affecting the reproductive system. Seek veterinary care if your male's cere begins to look like this.
What do female ceres look like?
Hatchling
Females generally hatch with a very pale pink coloured cere that matches their naked skin. You may notice a very slight paler rings around the nostrils, giving the opening to the nares the appearance of depth.
Week Old
At about a week old, the female's cere appears translucent and dull white, giving a very slight "see through" appearance.
Two Weeks
Around the two weeks' mark the cere will turn slightly more opaque but maintain some level of translucency compared to males. You may see emergence of a matte or chalky texture on the cere at this time, whereas a male's will appear very smooth.
Third Week
By third week, the female's cere is beginning gain some pale blue colour that appears unsaturated. You may notice a much paler circular colour around the nostrils. Some females may present with a muted pink cere that is not uniformly spread throughout the cere.
Week Four
The female is in the process of becoming fully feathered and her cere has lightened a lot more, presenting with an overall skyblue shade with hints of purple on the lower part of the cere, and with some textured white circular rings right around the nares.
Mature Female: Part 1
The "true" cere colour of a female remains a mix of skyblue and white. The colours become more prominent at sexual maturity and the cere begins to gain more texture. The strength of the blue may vary, but will not be as rich as a male's cere.
Mature Female: Part 2
Presenting another example showing a milder strength of blue on a female's true cere at sexual maturity. This is accompanied by a lot of white around the nostrils.
Mature Female: Part 3
When females experience a surge of sex hormones temporarily, a brown keratin coating over the cere is produced, masking the "true colour." This phase is often "incorrectly" described as being in breeding condition. The brown coating of the cere indicates the female's body is in a hormonal state. Sexual maturity can begin as early as 4 weeks of age.
Once the hormone levels return to a neutral state, the brown coating wears off, revealing the true cere underneath. Illustrated in the next image.
Mature Female: Part 4
This photo illustrates the brown coating of the cere flaking off, revealing the true blue and white coloured cere underneath. This indicates that the female's body is no longer experiencing a surge of sex hormones and is returning to a neutral state. She will develop the brown coating over the cere again, and this process will repeat through the course of her life.
Older Versus Younger Female
This is an illustration of a sexually mature female (6.5 months old) with a brown keratin coating over her cere next to her younger sister (1.5 months old) presenting with a pale blue cere with whitish rings around the nares.
Notable Exceptions
Very young birds often develop heavy melanin pigmentation, colouring their beak black. This may sometimes extend to the cere, turning the cere very dark - preventing the true colour from being assessed for sexing.
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Some young females may present with ambiguous cere colouring until reaching 8 weeks of age due to hormonal influence. While this phenomenon is uncommon, their ceres may resemble that of a young male's with the exception of a textured appearance.
Female ceres are not affected by pattern mutations. The transition remains normal in all females.
Male Budgerigars: Gallery
Senior male, adult male, juvenile male
Senior male, adult male, juvenile male
Female Budgerigars: Gallery
