Male or female budgie?

[theoldchick]

Dna testing is the only true way to know.

https://avian2.animalgenetics.com/Avian/DNA_Sexing/DNA-Sexing-Feather.asp

He/she is a lovely parakeet.

 

[BelovedBirds]

Waiting would tell. The cere is almost certain to change at some point or other.
I said female as those pictures give absolutely zero indication of male. A "blue" cere does not mean male. A mature female can definitely have a pastel blue cere, which unless your pictures aren't showing the true colours is what I see.
I've had a number of male budgies from babies to adult and I've not had a single one with a cere that pale, I don't breed so I don't encourage my birds to be in breeding condition, which would brighten/darken the ceres. Even baby male budgies will have a bluey pink/purple cere. To me a blue and white cere is female and has proven correct IME.
A male budgie has an equal chance of bonding with another male or female. It comes down to their personalities regardless of gender as to whether they're compatible.

That's what I keep on thinking, but if female, wouldn't she have a lighter ring around her nostrils? That's what I keep hearing so it's causing me some doubt. It doesn't really matter if she's male or female and we can wait and see how it plays out- I'm just impatient and like to know!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, I think I do agree with you. The photos are true to colour

 

[BelovedBirds]

Dna testing is the only true way to know.

https://avian2.animalgenetics.com/Avian/DNA_Sexing/DNA-Sexing-Feather.asp

He/she is a lovely parakeet.

Thank you! I love her permanently scruffy bed head lol
I considered that, but I don't think a feather sample would be worth it due to having to pluck fresh feathers. It would just freak her out

 

[SilverBirds]

Don't suppose you have a photo of when his cere was light? Was he under a year old at that point? I just thought that a male would have a much darker cere at 2, unless the age is wrong.
Also this bird has so far been quite quiet and sassy, if that helps. We are giving them a lot of space and keeping a friendly distance while they settle, but if we need to refill the water bowl etc we get a very sassy beak threat.
I'm not convinced it was well looked after previously

This is his cere at about 2 years old. Apologies for the picture, he had just been attacked by my cat but it's the only one I could find with a clear cere at this age)


Looking at the pictures of your budgie again this morning, I do suppose it looks more like a young female cere. I would trust @Somewhere_In_The_Clouds judgement over mine because I believe they have more experience with budgies than I do.

 

[BelovedBirds]

This is his cere at about 2 years old. Apologies for the picture, he had just been attacked by my cat but it's the only one I could find with a clear cere at this age)
View attachment 4184417

Looking at the pictures of your budgie again this morning, I do suppose it looks more like a young female cere. I would trust @Somewhere_In_The_Clouds judgement over mine because I believe they have more experience with budgies than I do.

Aww poor guy, he really does have a suspiciously pale/purplish cere, wow! Very pretty budgie.
Yes I think I'm leaning towards female, looking at her again today in better lighting I'm seeing that her cere is slightly grayish light blue, and is maybe slightly paler around her nostrils. She really is a tricky one to tell though!
For now we're saying female until proven otherwise

 

[Somewhere_In_The_Clouds]

These are my young ones right now.
Two females on the left, two males on the right. The middle girl has a very blue cere, but also white like I previously mentioned. Very noticeable when next to the boys.

In this link there's pictures showing how adult females can also have the blue. I wouldn't say your's is definitely young or anything off cere because their ceres can change so much over their life.
https://forums.avianavenue.com/index.php?threads/ceres-for-those-interested.136100/#post-2464756

 

[Finchbreeder]

The ceres of budgies are strongly influenced by their hormones.
My mother currently has about 150 breeding budgies, and they have all different colour ceres. (as in shades - the type/colour also affects the cere shade.) (Mum breeds a mix of mutations, Aust Pied, Danish Pied, Cinnamon, etc.) Yours appears to be an Aust Pied, not sure about cinnamon at that angle?
I may be wrong, because an out of condition bird is harder to sex than one in condition - but I think this is an out of condition male.
Letting the 2 birds interact will help to make something happen if I am wrong.
Mum has 25 pairs in the breeding cabinets at the moment, but this particularly cold winter is dampening their enthusiasm.
If you were nearby I would suggest letting her do a pelvic test for you. Experienced breeders know how to feel the pelvic bones carefully to tell the gender of an in condition bird, this is also less effective when not in condition. But works pretty good if they are "coming up" into condition as an early indicator. Before the cere changes.

 

[BelovedBirds]

The ceres of budgies are strongly influenced by their hormones.
My mother currently has about 150 breeding budgies, and they have all different colour ceres. (as in shades - the type/colour also affects the cere shade.) (Mum breeds a mix of mutations, Aust Pied, Danish Pied, Cinnamon, etc.) Yours appears to be an Aust Pied, not sure about cinnamon at that angle?
I may be wrong, because an out of condition bird is harder to sex than one in condition - but I think this is an out of condition male.
Letting the 2 birds interact will help to make something happen if I am wrong.
Mum has 25 pairs in the breeding cabinets at the moment, but this particularly cold winter is dampening their enthusiasm.
If you were nearby I would suggest letting her do a pelvic test for you. Experienced breeders know how to feel the pelvic bones carefully to tell the gender of an in condition bird, this is also less effective when not in condition. But works pretty good if they are "coming up" into condition as an early indicator. Before the cere changes.

Can you tell at all based on behaviour? She/he is very quiet, chirps very quietly and not often, and is also not happy with people being too close, will open his/her mouth like a threat to bite. We have also noticed that if we pass the cage or potter by it, she may shake her wings slightly, like a vibration. Only when we are close by, we've not see it any other times.

We know they're just settling so we are giving him/her a lot of space and respecting whatever boundaries he/she gives. The behaviour is totally different than what we see in Charlie, who is so out going and chripy- but I know it could just be personality differences

 

[Finchbreeder]

Budgie personalities vary as much as human personalities do.
Mum has a couple of young Aussie pied cocks she hatched last year, (brothers) who think when she goes in their avairy that it is an invitation to crawl all over her. The hens don't do this. Is it gender based? Or is it that they are the last 2 chicks of the season and so still most baby like?
She has hens in the breeding boxes. Some are new to her, some are 1st time mum's, some have been there done that several times.
Why do some happily display their eggs and some get really ratty at those fingers poking into their nests? No idea, and it is not set who will or wont do it. But if a hen does get ratty in her 1st season she is more likely to repeat this in future seasons. Buying in or breeding does not seem to make a difference and sisters can have totally different reactions.