# Female Budgie Cere Color Change



## omegus

Hi, posted are two pictures (BEFORE and NOW). My female budgie cere is changing from dark brown to blue, what does this mean?

She has been molting for some time now as when she flies, some feathers fall off. Could this be a reason?

We don't know how old she is since we bought her from another person. We believe she is a female because she had a dark brown cere originally.

BEFORE:


http://imgur.com/YpJ0hV7

NOW:


http://imgur.com/68tGaqB


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## Therm

When female budgies get to adulthood, their cere's start to change colour. This turns the cere a brown colour. 
The reverting to blue/white means she is coming out of season. As she is moulting this is probably why she's coming out of condition. 
The length of the cere being brown and the darkness of the cere differ from bird to bird so she may come in and out or she may keep a brown cere for a long time. 

It's nothing to worry about.


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## omegus

Therm said:


> When female budgies get to adulthood, their cere's start to change colour. This turns the cere a brown colour.
> The reverting to blue/white means she is coming out of season. As she is moulting this is probably why she's coming out of condition.
> The length of the cere being brown and the darkness of the cere differ from bird to bird so she may come in and out or she may keep a brown cere for a long time.
> 
> It's nothing to worry about.


Thanks for letting me know. Could you clarify what you mean by "coming out of season"? Do you mean breeding wise? I thought blue color is for males only, not female?


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## Therm

Yes, 'coming out of season' os to do with breeding. Basically, moulting is stressful for a budgie and they can feel a little bit more tired than usual. So a budgie is not thinking about breeding during this time.

A deep royal blue is for an adult male budgie. 
A tan/brown is a female budgie, in condition. When she's not in condition it will be a blue/white colour.

Here's the visual aide:










Picture 1 is Sage a female as a youngster, and below, an adult. You can see a little wite around the nares (nostrils). 
Picture 2 is Skye a male as a youngster. His cere is all one colour with no whiter area around the nares. 
Picture 3- to make things more confusing- is Jay a combination pied who had a pink cere now as an adult. This will never change colour to bright blue. But the same mutation in a female would still turn brown. Once a male budgies cere goes bright blue, it doesn't change back.


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## omegus

Thanks! Very helpful


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## Therm

Your welcome.


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