The age of a parrot can be determined with accuracy only when the bird is still very small. After a parrot is one month old, even experienced breeders can only roughly tell when it was born. However, in general, even a layman can distinguish a young parrot from an old one.
Instructions
Step 1
Take a close look at the bird's head. If the budgerigar has black and white feathers moving in waves, starting directly from the wax (area of skin) near the beak, it means that there has not been a molt yet, that is, the bird is not more than three months old. If the forehead of the parrot is clean, without stripes, you have an adult male or female in front of you.
Step 2
Pay special attention to the parrot wax. In young individuals, it is light purple or pale blue with tints of white. With age, male birds acquire a bright blue wax color, and females - brown or pink. However, there are some nuances: for example, in snow-white budgerigars (albinos) and canary yellow (lutinos), the wax remains pale purple throughout life.
Step 3
Look the parrot in the eye. In a young bird, they are completely black, the iris and pupil are indistinguishable in color. If the pupil is a standard black dot surrounded by a white iris, then the individual is already an adult. Feathers near the eyes can serve as additional proof of the age of the parrot: young chicks have them, but adult birds do not. However, due to individual characteristics, feathers may or may not be present for reasons independent of age.
Step 4
Assess the general appearance of the parrot. The young have not such bright plumage, the waves look blurry and start from the top of the head. The length from the head to the tip of the tail is less than 17 - 18 centimeters, the exception may be naturally large individuals. The tail of a young budgerigar is short, but not because the feathers have recently fallen out (this can be checked with the owner of the bird), but because they have not yet grown.
Step 5
Do not fall for the "young bird is a flightless bird" argument common among unscrupulous sellers. If a parrot does not fly, this does not necessarily mean that he is still young and has not learned. It may turn out that the bird simply does not have the strength to rise into the air due to old age or illness. By the way, parrots begin to take off at the age of about 40 days, and by the time of sale (about one and a half months) they are already confidently cutting through the air.
