Budgie Buddies
Permanently Closed
Our budgie flock has continued to get smaller every year. Without a sustainable population of budgies, we can no longer provide a high-quality, interactive experience for our guests. Our animal care and veterinary teams will continue to care for the remaining birds, but our guests are no longer able to view, feed or interact with them.
Frequently Asked Questions
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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.