Bourke Parakeets

[demeter04]

I have 2 Bourket Parakeets, Raoul and Christine(I don't know their genders). They have been with me for almost two years. Lately one of them has been pulling its tail feathers up and it makes this chirping sound. Is this a sign of wanting to mate? Also I just bought two regular Parakeets to keep them company. Does a male Parakeet make a screeching chirp noise for any reason? My male keeps chirping really loudly. He is friendly with the other one that came with him, and I don't keep them in the cage with my Bourkes (they don't like my new Parakeets too much.)

[Monica]

There is a size difference between male and female bourkes... Males normally tend to be larger (though not always). If they are regular bourkes, the male will have more color on him than the female. Otherwise they both might be females. You can say that the one that puts its tail feathers up in the air is a female and is wanting to be mounted (or mated with).

As far as budgies, some budgies will make a screeching noise though one can't always say for what... sometimes though it's because something is bothering them, or they don't like something. Females can make the sound as well.

[Xavier]

Sorry, I don't know anything about Bourkes. I just had to add that I love the names! I love Phantom of the Opera!

[demeter04]

Well they actually were Orlando and Bloom, until they sang to the movie soundtrack version of All I Ask Of You.

My Budgies are Phantom and Masquerade, they got that on their ride home from the Woodlands two weekends ago. They sing to Masquerade all the time.

Would it be okay to put the Budgies with the Bourkes? I tried it and there was no fighting, but the Budgies stole the Boukes' favorite sand perch. And if the female is wanting to be mounted, would the male be responding with its soft chirp? The other one seems interested when this is going on so I figured that is must be male. They haven't mounted though...is there something that I should do so they can breed? I am willing to take on the responsiblilty of young chicks.

[demeter04]

The first one is of Raoul, the second is Christine, and the bottom one is Raoul on the pink perch and Christine on the wood perch. This is after their first vet office visit to make sure they were in good health.

Christine is the female and Raoul is now the bird in question.

[Monica]

To be honest, the both bourkes look like females... and lovely ones at that!

Here is a rather large image, but it'll show you clearly the difference between the male and female bourkes. The one in the center is a female, and the ones to the left and right of her are males.

Male Bourke...............................Female Bourke...............................Male Bourke

It's possible to put the budgies and bourkes together, however I don't really reccomend it... I have two female bourkes (sisters), two male budgies (buds), and two female budgies, with all the budgies living together of course. One of the male budgies is a "playboy" and flirts with anybody. Before I got the female budgies, I did keep the budgies and bourkes together, of course back then I also had a male bourke (a brother). Because of that one budgie feeding the male bourke, I ended up loosing him (couldn't figure out what was wrong until the budgie started feeding one of the other bourkes and she started to become ill as well... so I had to separate them immediately). Needless to say, she still has an infatuation with him .Some people do have great success keeping budgies and bourkes together, however I did not so I don't recommend it, especially with how placid bourkes are.

If you are interested in breeding the bourkes, and maybe even handling new chicks (not handfeeding unless you know how to), you can get some excellent pets! But you would probably need to buy two males first, and at least 2 breeding boxes with SAFE nesting material. It's also adviced to have the bourkes (or all birds for that matter) on a healthy diet including fresh foods.

[demeter04]

If they are both female, will they ever lay eggs without being bred? Also, they are really well bonded and don't really like having other birds around would it be wise to get them some males? They might not like them to much, and they seem happy with each other. They feed each other and play games, but they don't like any other birds to be near them.

[Monica]

It's possible that they will lay eggs without a mate, but of course they will be infertile. If they seem happy as is, then I see no point in breeding them unless you are seriously interested. They may not except a male but who knows.

[BirdsUnlimited]

There should be an article in the April issue of BIRD TALK on Bourkes. I was interviewed for the article, but nothing was very in depth. They're great little birds, fantastic first birds for kids. Maybe something for you to look forward to. It'll be interesting how the article comes out.

[demeter04]

Is there a way to get the Budgies to stop making their fussy chirping noise? They do it all the time now. I tried separating them and it didn't stop, and then I tried changing their cage setting, and it still didn't work. They are getting annoying, and I don't know why they are doing this. They usually do it when they are playing, or singing.