How can I determine the age of my Budgie?

For most mutations it is very simple to determine the age by looking at their visual features.

It is harder to sex budgies that have not yet gone through their first molt. Any budgie that has not gone through their first molt are younger than 4 months old, they will also have dark button eyes with the exceptions of the ino and recessive pied mutations, they will also have the bars coming down from the forehead to the cere. The cere will be pink for both sexes.

At the Age of 4 months the budgie will start to loose its baby feathers and go through the fist molt. At this stage the bars on the forehead will start to disappear. The eyes will start showing a grey circle also known as an iris, and the budgie will start developing some color on the cere.
   
Budgie Less Than 4 Months Old                                                                                                                                                            Budgie After 4 Months


   
Budgies less than 4 months old have bars running from the back of the head to the cere.Their eyes are completely black unless they are luntino or albino (red eyes). The     cere is pink, purple for the males and pink with white circles on the cere or white cere.
  

                                                                                          Color are more vibrant and cere is bright blue.

Colors are dull and cere is pink                                                                                                                                                                                               

Determining the Sex of you Budgie

At the young age of 4 months the cere will begin showing the gender of the budgie.
Females will transition from their pink cere to a white cere at the age of 4 months. The cere will have whitish rings around the nostrils; in some cases the white cere will have splashes of blue. This is completely normal and just means that the female budgie is not in breeding condition. As females grow the cere turns to a tan color. This generally occurs around 6 months of age. Once the female reaches sexual maturity at the age of 7 months the cere will turn to a chocolate brown color. Although a female can begin breeding at this age, it is advisable that you abstain from breeding your budgies until the age of one year.

Female budgies can also produce clear eggs without mating with a male budgie. This just means that the eggs will not be fertile. You should always keep a very close eye on any female that is producing eggs without a mate because they can also be at risk with egg binding. Provide plenty of calcium to the hen.

Most males will transition from their pink cere to a purple cere after their fist molt. Males that are Lutino, Albino, or Recessive pied will not get any other coloration on their ceres. The ceres will remain pink through their entire life. The best way to sex them is to observe their behavior. Males will jump from perch to perch bobbing their heads and making little chirping noises. Males also tap their beaks against females or perches and regurgitate to their partner. Some males also have whitish rings around their nostrils but are less noticeable. The white rings are also normal. When this occurs it is more advisable to sex them based on behavior. Once the male is in breeding condition the cere will turn a bright blue.

Males in breeding condition will choose a partner and try to display their affection for them by regurgitating. If you see a male regurgitating to a mate or a toy this absolutely normal.
   
Females

 
 Males