Budgie Buddies
Join the Flock
Fluttering, twittering, chattering – step into our Budgie Buddies aviary and be surrounded by a flock of colorful little Australian birds! Our budgies – or budgerigars – will fly over and around you, and even eat from a seed stick. Now open daily.
Discover the Budgies
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Seeing super-color
It's all in the UV.
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Like all parrots, budgerigars can see in UV light!
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In this spectrum, their already-colorful plumage is even brighter.
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Fluffy chicks
So cute.
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Budgies are monogamous and breed in large colonies year-round, depending on location. Nesting in fence posts, logs or gum trees, they lay clutches of 4-6 eggs which they incubate for 18-21 days.
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Chicks are born bald, then grow downy gray fluff before fledging blue, green or yellow feathers. Many are hatched here at the Zoo over winter!
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The sound of 25,000 budgies
(Pretty noisy.)
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Highly social birds, budgies can form flocks of up to 25,000 birds. They forage in the morning and can be very noisy!
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Pet budgies (usually males) can mimic human speech and other sounds they hear often.
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Protecting birds
THE THREAT: Budgerigars aren’t threatened in the wild in Australia – there are many of them! But in America many species of small birds are declining, due to disappearing habitat, domestic cats and even climate change.
TAKE ACTION: Make a bird-friendly yard. Plant perennials for hummingbirds and keep tall trees. Put stickers on glass windows and keep your cat inside. And help preserve wild habitat for migrating birds.
Animal Stories
First there was Walnut, a male beaver living at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium. Then came Nutmeg, a female beaver who came to the zoo from sister zoo Northwest Trek as a companion for Walnut. And now baby makes three. Born late last month, the new kit is thriving and growing daily. Fuzzy brown, around … Continued
On the stage at the Wild Wonders Outdoor Theater, two dogs are waiting to ride a “hot air balloon” (actually, a basket and beach ball on a cable). One, with dark brown patches and a blue bandanna round his neck, sits patiently – then hops inside confidently. The other dog, lighter brown with a purple … Continued
It’s like being inside a cloud of excited children who’ve all been given a bright yellow jacket and two cups of coffee. We’re inside Budgie Buddies on a sunny spring morning – perfect budgie weather, says keeper Ariel Woodruff. She and fellow keeper Heather Burns have been doing the spring cleaning before this popular habitat … Continued