Sunday Bird Blogging

For today's version of Sunday Bird Blogging we have a family portrait of the mama parakeet and her young brood of sons and/or daughters:

Above, from left, that's Hambone (eldest), Whitey (albino mama), Peanut (youngest) and Jumbo (middle sibling), all hatched during the week of May 9th, each a couple of days apart. That makes the oldest chick (Hambone) about 12 weeks old. We won't know their sexes, usually indicated by the "ceres" above their beaks, for some months.

In this one we have, from left, Jumbo (middle sibling), Whitey (mom), Peanut (runt) and Hambone (first-hatched). We think Jumbo is jumbo because he/she got alot of the food meant for Peanut the runt. Hambone is named that because she/he was so eager to get out of the nest box and get some attention. He/she has more yellow in his/her feathers than the other two.

The runt, Peanut, is the most aggressive and assertive of the brood. Jumbo, the middle kid, is very mellow. Hambone is very playful and inquisitive. Whitey, the mom, is regal, dignified and generally very patient with the energetic antics of her offspring. Peanut likes to groom mom's head.

All three take after their beautiful green dad, Queenie, who has been moved in with our other parakeets, Ginger and Georgie, in a separate cage so he and Whitey don't mate again. Experts recommend that parakeets (proper name: budgerigars) breed only once per year so we're taking no chances. This despite the fact that it is fairly unusual for pet parakeets to successfully breed.

(Click on photos for larger versions. Click for the Sunday Bird Blogging archive.)