Reptile & Amphibian Forums

The strangest thing happened. I was out in my back yard the other evening when a strange bird flew over my head and landed in a nearby tree just above my wooden fence. When I got closer, I realized it was a little blue parakeet (budgie.) Being the Jeff Corwin type all of my life, I realized that it was almost dark and knowing that birds don't have the greatest night vision I began a very slow slothlike climb and was able to catch it. Luckily I had a cockatiel cage and now have a little blue parakeet. I believe it is a female because she does not have a blue sere. The thing that concerns me though is that the sere is a dark brown crusty color. She seems very healthy otherwise. She is content being in a cage and lets me get very close to her. Is this sere color OK? and would she have been able to survive in the wild here in South Carolina in January? I am sure she must have escaped from someone as unlike Florida, there are no wild populations of Budgies that I know of in this part of the country? Any help?

I imagine she escaped although I have heard of some instances where an idiot owner will release them thinking they can survive in the wild. I am not sure how your weather is there right now. They can survive in cooler but not cold conditions. I imagine if your weather is around 50-55 or above she probably could have survived although then it depends on her ability to find food in backyard feeders etc and not be killed by other animals.

As far as the cere it depends on what you mean by "crusty" The look of her cere could be two things. First when females are in season their ceres will sometimes swell and turn a darker brownish color but also a bird with scaly mites can also have them on and around the cere giving it a swollen crusty look. If it is the mites look closely at the cere and you should see tiny holes throughout the cere. If except for being swollen and the coloration there are no holes etc more than likely she is in season.