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Budgerigar or Parakeet. What's the Difference?!!

© Shane Tully

One of my biggest pet peeves is when someone looks at a budgerigar and says, "Look at the pretty parakeet!" But, you say, aren't they the same thing? Yes and no. A budgerigar may be a parakeet, but a parakeet is not a budgerigar. If you come and ask me or most bird people for some information on a parakeet, you'll most likely be responded to with, "What kind?" What do you mean, "what kind?" you say? Why there are only a bit more than 200 different species of parakeets.

But before we go any further, let me admit something. When I first started with birds, I called budgies parakeets too. So don't feel stupid! It is just one of the problems that comes with such a demoralized society.

The budgerigar is classified as Melopsittacus undulatus. The common budgerigar usually goes by these names: budgeriar, budgie, the American parakeet (though this name is incorrect. A true American parakeet is a conure), and the Australian shell parakeet. The budgerigar originates from the australian grasslands. Its normal "true" wild color is green, although it has been bred into about every color of the spectrum!

Mainly the parakeet family includes the budgerigar, cockatiel, rosella, lorikeet, and conure. A good book to read about the various parakeet species is The Encyclopedia of Parakeets.

So please understand that a budgerigar is a parakeet, but a parakeet is not a budgerigar. Just as you would not look at a conure and say, "Look at the 'purty' parakeet!"