Amazing senses pt.4

Budgies may have fewer taste buds than humans (birds have approximately 300 taste buds while humans have approximately 9,000!), but they are still able to detect sweet, salty, bitter, and acidic substances. So in a way, they're doing even better than us!

Image © Erlend Alvestad, my wonderful fiancé <3

Sweet or sour?

Budgies like both sweet and sour food. Most birds prefer food with a sour or bitter taste, that's one reason why budgies like vegetables so much. But when it comes to apples, millet, or other treats that contain sweetness like honey, I can definitely point out some addicts for you!

So taste really differs from budgie to budgie; there are budgies that shudder and walk away after they take a bite out of a fresh, bitter lettuce leaf. On the other hand, there are actually budgerigars that dislike apples.

Note that you better don't give any fruit or vegetables to your budgies when you think it's too bitter or sour! I hereby give the example of citrus fruit like lemons and grapefruit. Also, don't pamper them too much with snacks that are too sweet or salty. You don't want your budgie to get indigestion!

Other posts in this series:
Amazing senses pt. 3
Amazing senses pt. 2
Amazing senses pt. 1

Amazing Senses pt. 3

This picture belongs to "evilmini" on flickr.com

The ears of your budgies are covered by feathers. They are small openings behind the eyes.
Budgies have a well-developped hearing, since it plays an important part in communication with their congeners. They will also be able to recognize your voice after a short while.

In the ear, there's an organ of balance. When the ear gets damaged by an illness, your budgie won't be able to fly (well) anymore or keep his balance on the perch. If your budgie hangs his head a bit crooked, or if there are any other signs that he lost his balance, then you might have to take him to the vet.

Amazing Senses pt. 2

Budgies have a well developped tactile sense. A brooding female is able to sense and follow the movements of her chick in the egg by means of the "brood patch" (a bald patch on her belly).

Even more special is the tactile sense in your budgie's legs: they can sense vibrations extremely well. This way, budgies in the wild know when the enemy is trying to sneak up on them, for example a snake!

This is the reason why caged budgies have to get used to all kinds of vibrations in or around the house during the first months, like a lorry that drives by. Don't scare them unnecessarily by putting them on a vibrating device like a refrigerator.

Amazing senses

(photo: guardian.co.uk)

Budgies can register 150 images per second and hear sounds from 400 to 20 000 Hz. They have an amazing ability of storing sound sequences in their memory - this is why they can mimic human speech.

Humans can only register 16 images per second and they hear sounds from 16 to 20 000 Hz. Budgies have a more accurate sense of hearing, which allows them to distinguish certain signals very quickly - in the wild, this could mean life or death. This is why their hearing is in fact better developped than the general hearing of a human.