# Budgerigar (*Melopsittacus undulatus*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/budgerigar  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus), also called the Budgie, is a small bird in the parrot subgroup, belonging to the family Psittaculidae and order Psittaciformes. It is a granivore at the herbivore trophic level, lives in woodland, has a generalist foraging lifestyle and is partially migratory. Adults weigh 28.99 g, with reported values from 28.8 to 29.3 g, and the species has a lifespan of 21 years. Checklists record it in Australia, its geographic range covers 5,880,000 km², and it is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, which is not a threatened category.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 29 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Lifespan | 21 years |
| Diet | Granivore |
| Main food | seeds |
| Habitat | woodland |
| Egg incubation | 18 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 5 |
| Age at maturity | 5.91 months |
| Lifestyle | Generalist |
| Migration | Partial |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | 1 country |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Psittaciformes
- family: Psittaculidae
- genus: Melopsittacus
- species: *Melopsittacus undulatus* (Shaw, 1805)

Synonyms: *Melopsittacus undulatus intermedius*, *Melopsittacus undulatus pallidiceps*, *Psittacus undulatus*

## Countries on record

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

Australia

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is a budgerigar?

The budgerigar is a bird in the parrot subgroup, classified in the family Psittaculidae and the order Psittaciformes.

### How much does a budgerigar weigh?

An adult Budgerigar weighs 28.99 g, with values reported from 28.8 to 29.3 g.

### What does a budgerigar eat?

The budgerigar is a granivore, placing it at the herbivore trophic level.

### Which countries is the budgerigar recorded in?

Checklists record the budgerigar in Australia, and its geographic range covers 5,880,000 km².

### Is the budgerigar endangered?

No. The budgerigar is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

### How long does a budgerigar live?

The budgerigar has a lifespan of 21 years.

### How many eggs does a budgerigar lay?

The budgerigar has a clutch size of 5, with an incubation period of 18 days, and it reaches sexual maturity at 180 days.

### Who named the budgerigar?

The budgerigar's scientific name, Melopsittacus undulatus, carries the authority (Shaw, 1805).

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), CC BY 4.0, v7. Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/budgerigar