Budgies are quite social animals, and because of this, is recommended that you keep these birds in pairs as this gives them the opportunity to socialize with each other even when you aren’t around.
Here is the behavior that you can expect from a budgie pair.
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Budgie behavior in pairs:
Budgies will express different behaviors when with different people and when with different animals.
Here is what to expect if you have two budgies living together:
If they like each other:
Sitting close to one another:
Just as humans will want to sit and interact with people that we like, budgies will want to do the same thing too. The birds will hang out with each other on the same perch and may even touch each other.
Preening each other:
Preening in the animal kingdom is a sign of liking the other animal, this is an act of service.
If an animal preens another animal then this means that this animal cares about the appearance of the other animal and cares that the other animal is healthy and clean.
So, if you notice your two birds doing this then you can assume that they like each other.
Regurgitation:
This may seem gross to us humans but regurgitation is perfectly normal for budgies who like each other, in fact, it is a sign that one budgie likes the other.
Budgie adults will regurgitate food into the mouths of their babies and budgies will also regurgitate food into the mouths of adult budgies that they like.
This is common in males who will feed the females during reproduction time as a part of a courting ritual.
Expressing breeding behavior:
If you’ve put a female budgie and a male budgie together then the birds may start to show breeding behaviors and signs of flirting when you put them together.
Signs that the birds are about to breed include fluttering, grooming each other, touching beaks, gently rubbing on each other, and tweeting at each other as though they are in deep conversation
If they don’t like each other:
Flapping and squawking:
You can expect this type of behavior if the birds don’t like each other.
Budgies have no other way of communicating other than using their body movements and different sounds to communicate and if two budgies don’t like each other they will squawk at each other and flap their wings at each other
Flapping wings at each other is the bird’s way of trying to intimidate each other and getting other birds to back off, the hissing is another way of achieving the same goal.
Pecking at each other:
All birds have beaks and all birds know that they can use their beaks to peck at other birds if they feel the need to. If birds don’t like each other then feather pecking is something that the birds will do.
You may want to keep these birds in different cages as soon as they come into your care. This will allow them to get used to each other before you decide to put them into one cage.
Fighting:
Fighting may not necessarily mean that the birds don’t like each other but it may mean that there aren’t enough resources for the birds and they will fight each other to get the resources that they need.
Signs that you’ll see in birds before and during fights include raised wings, hissing, biting of the feet, screaming, wrestling, and chasing each other.
What to do:
You’d need to take a closer look at how much food you’re giving the birds, how much water you’re giving the birds, and how much space you’re giving the birds, what you’ve been giving may not be enough.
When adopting another bird double everything, not just the food and water but the food bowls, perches, toys, and space in the cage.
You can also use a laser pointer to distract your bird’s mid fight, or give them words of discouragement like uttering a loud and firm “no” when they start to fight
If the birds are constantly fighting then you may have to consider keeping them separated for good.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other bird related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: How To Train A Cockatiel To Come To You, How To Catch A Budgie In The House, Female Budgies Fighting, Bird Tilting Head Back