What's your favorite color for a budgie?

Budgies come in over one hundred different kinds of colors. The primary color is green, which is typical in the wild as camouflage. There are various shades of blue, opaline, grey, white, yellow, pied (mixed colors), cobalt, violet and many more.

The poll that I set up at the beginning of July has revealed that a lot of people have a soft spot for blue budgerigars. Why do so many people prefer the color blue over all other colors? Does it remind you of the sky, the sea, and all the calm things in the world?

Photo © Undulater i fokus

A bit of psychology:
Blue is often associated with depth and stability. It symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven. Blue is in many commercials also used to promote cleanliness.

Personally, I like blue budgies because it makes them look even more like creatures of the sky. But not all blue budgies have a calm personality, although I have seen a lot of wise blue budgies in my life. It all depends where they grow up.

Over to the results:

Ta-dah! Blue budgies all the way across the sky! A lot of people also like pied, green and yellow budgies. The reason why grey budgies are at the bottom of the list might be because it's a rare mutation. Only white-based budgies with a grey factor turn out to be real grey budgies.

Now, you could ask yourself the question: what do budgies actually think of their color? Are they just as crazy about blue budgies as we are?

Answer 1: budgies don't only see the colors that we can see, but they are also able to see ultraviolet light. All budgies that have yellow pigmented feathers will glow in the dark. Wow! This makes it somewhat easier for green and yellow budgies to find a mate, because female budgies really like those shiny feathers. Blue budgies, however, don't glow in the dark because they lack yellow pigment.

Answer 2: blue is not exactly a good camouflage color in the Australian wilderness. Blue budgies that are born in the wild, will lose the protection of blending in with their flock. Other flock members will chase them off because blue budgies look "weird" and attract too much attention.

Image © The Aywas Wiki

Luckily, blue budgies who are kept together with other budgies don't have such a bad life. They are not a target to bullies, as opposed to budgies who are ill. When there's a good balance of males and females, blue budgies will most likely still find a mate. So don't worry! Take good care of your feathered friends and help them whenever they need it!