The budgies cere changes throughout its life. The biggest change you will see is between a baby and an adult. Even people that have seen many birds grow up can be wrong, its just not that easy with all the different types of budgies out there. I know breeders that have a tough time and they have been doing this on clutches for years and years. On your average adult budgie male you will have a very solid darkish blue cere and females are usually more whitish, though a splash of blue of pink isn't uncommon. Every so often their cere will turn all brown and start to thicken and get crusty. This means they are in their breeding mode.
For young and baby budgies it is WAY more difficult to tell because it changes from the day they are born until they are full grown. Also, the colors are often backwards when they are babies. For instance, a young male cere can be solid pink or blue. In general the males cere tend to be more solid in color than females do. As babies the females cere can be white or blue in color, but often it is just a very light somewhat blotchy blue, pretty much like the baby girl in this thread, it looks blue, but is not even close to what a boys blue cere would look like. To confuse the problem even more there are a ton of different types of budgies like rcessive pieds and dominant and type 2 yellow faces and so on. Often these different types can have different cere patterns.
When I found my Frodo I was almost certain it was a girl because it was pink and white. For a while I was just waiting for it to turn brown when Frodo went into breeding mode. Finally, I saw my avian vet to have the band removed and it said (in code) that Frodo was born in 1999. Well, have Frodo been female, he would have already had the cere turn brown, plus after looking at him he felt that he was a boy. But if I posted a pic most people would guess female, Frodo is a recessive pied and his traits are different than other keets for example his eyes are all black and will always be, whereas most budgies eyes will develop an iris sometime before a year of age. Anyhow, I doubt all that is easy to understand, but the more you see the more you will retain and understand it all. Best of luck. Jloc
EDIT: Also as mentioned many people including my Sammy's breeder tell the difference by looking for a white ring around the nostrils usually indicating a female, as the male will be solid in color with no ring. I have yet to perfect this way of identifying and I have not fully seen if it is better or best, but from the qualified people that I have met that do this, it seems to be one of the better ways, though I usually come to the same conclusion without looking for the rings. Sammy actually had some small rings and I knew he was a boy, so as I said I have not perfected this way yet, I need to see more of both male and female in person to get better.
Last edited by Jloc; 07/24/07 05:46 AM.
