Rashu's Bird Palace
How do you know if your bird is a good weight?
Asking Google will have your head scratching and may cause panic because the measured weight of your bird may seem too high or too low!
Quality Versus Quantity
Measured weight alone isn't a good metric of healthy body weight. Natural variation needs to be accounted for due to varying body lengths and widths, bone density, fat percentage and muscle mass. Just like people! Some birds are petite and others are giants, within the same species!
Ignore the body weight for a moment and examine your bird's body condition first:
Glide your index finger horizontally from one side of the breast to the other, passing over the keel bone in the middle of the chest. You have 3 possible findings.
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Breast muscles feel mostly flat relative to the keel bone, and keel bone doesn't feel sharp. The bird is a good weight.
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Breast muscles have less depth relative to the keel bone, and the keel bone feels "hard or sharp" and prominent. The bird is underweight.
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You can only feel the breast muscles, and the keel bone doesn't feel prominent to touch without some pressure. The bird is overweight.
Now would be the time to weigh your bird on a gram scale and record this value.
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If your exam finding matches description of case 1, your bird needs to stay around this number.
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If exam finding matches cases 2 or 3, diet change and physical activity management will help your exam finding reach case 1.
Google will pop out a magic number; a magic number that was posted in an unverifiable source decades ago. The true "average" changes with time with better or poorer breeding practices. Most birds won't fall into the average weight I have found.
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I often see people being advised their birds are obese or too skinny by members of the community on social media, solely by the metric of weight they have discovered on Google. They have now made an owner panic without truly understanding appropriate body condition and natural variation.
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The following pictures show my largest adult show type budgerigar (Geneva, 60.5 grams) next to the smallest one (Jack, 41.5 grams). It's hard to visually discern their ideal weight because the smaller one has more elongated feathers.
Geneva versus Jack
Both are of good body weight and good body condition score. Geneva has a longer body and broader shoulders compared to Jack.
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Geneva: 60.5 grams
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Jack: 41.5 grams
There's a weight difference of 19 grams between the 2!
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When they have both bathed, the size difference is more obvious and very amusing.
Natural Variation in Size and Weight
The chart on the left tallies the different weights of the 22 show type budgerigars. They are all in good body condition, and are of a good body weight. The diversity is fascinating!
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The average of all 22 weights is 51 grams, and yet only 4 are close to that weight. Those are my "mid-sized" budgerigars.
