Animalia Life

Melopsittacus undulatus
SUBFAMILY
Psittacinae
TAXONOMY
Psittacus undulatus Shaw, 1805, New Holland = south and west Australia. Monotypic.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Budgie, warbling grass-parakeet, lovebird, parakeet; French: Perruche ondulй; German: Wellensittich; Spanish: Periquito Comъn.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
7 in (18 cm): 0.8–1.1 oz (23–32 g). Small bird with light green and yellow plumage, darker wings, and bluish tail.
DISTRIBUTION
Interior of mainland Australia.
HABITAT
Wide variety of open habitats, from arid shrublands or lightly wooded grasslands and Atriplex (saltbush) plains to open forest and farmlands; favors eucalypts bordering ephemeral watercourses; capable of surviving long periods without water, but seldom found far from surface water.
BEHAVIOR
Migrant in south, nomad in north, but everywhere numbers influenced by availability of surface water. Gregarious, flocks normally of 10–100 birds, sometimes much larger, even many thousands; swift, erratic flight of flocks with remarkable precision, all birds twisting and turning in perfect unison. Departs communal roost at sunrise, flying directly to feeding areas; peak feeding periods in the morning and afternoon, in interim comes to drink, some members of flock alighting on water and rising into the air by beating wings down against water surface. Displays pre-roosting aerobatics before returning at dusk to nighttime roost.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Specialist feeder dependent on small seeds of groundcover vegetation; all seeds taken on the ground or within reach from the ground.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Monogamous. Breeding influenced by availability of surface water; in south usually during spring-summer and in north during autumn-winter. Nest in tree hollow or hole in stump, fencepost, or log lying on the ground; often communal nesting, and two or more broods reared in succession; clutch of four to six, up to eight eggs incubated by female for 18 days; chicks fledge at about 30 days, and sexually mature within 60 days of leaving nest.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Plentiful, though numbers fluctuate according to seasonal conditions; possibly most numerous Australian parrot, with estimated population more than five million.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Most popular cagebird worldwide; domesticated and numerous color mutations well established.

Other popular Animals