The Budgerigar (a name derived from the Australian Aboriginal word “betcherrygah”), or in scientific parlance the 
Melopsittacus Undulatus, better known as the budgie, is a small but vivacious parrot that is probably the most prevalent bird in terms of human companionship. Its life cycle is rather short but still notable, at an average of seven to nine years, with the rare bird living upwards of sixteen years.
Everything begins with the mother; a female budgie’s birth cycle involves the laying of one egg every two days until there are about four to six eggs. The female budgie will then sit on the eggs for a period of approximately twenty days to keep them warm(without the warmth the female budgie provides, the unborn birds would die). Sometime around the twentieth day of their existence, the baby birds will begin breaking their way out of their shells. They come out blind, naked, and completely incapable of surviving on their own (they are so feeble one can see through their tissue delicate skin; for the first few days the food in their stomachs is visible). Thus the mother must nourish the baby budgies with food pre- chewed in her mouth. The mother also continues to provide warmth for the budgies because they have not grown their feather insulation yet. After four days outside of their shell, a very fine feather down begins developing. Once the baby budgies have spent ten days outside of their shells, their eyes open and become functional.
The young budgies feather-down will start to develop into actually feathering after roughly twenty one days outside of their shells. At this point the budgie is no longer considered totally helpless. Through the third and fourth week, the younglings will grow enough that by the fifth week the parents will be able to leave them alone, often times leaving the nest completely unguarded (juvenile budgies use loud screeches in place of actually strength as a defense mechanism). During this time the little budgies will flex their wings (to gain muscle) before summoning the courage to attempt actual flight. The sixth week marks the budgies first attempts at leaving the nest, and on average by the seventh they are completely weaned of their dependence on their parents. It is important to note that the completion of said weaning varies for each budgie; some are matured at six weeks while others will not leave their parents until they are nine weeks of age.
At the age of four months, the budgie molts (molting is the shedding of a bird’s feathers) for the first time. This molting marks the reaching of full adulthood. By five months the female budgies are capable of laying eggs. Finally around the seventh month the budgies go through their final evolution; a white ring appears in each eye (this is referred to as an iris ring). Afterwards the healthy budgie will remain largely unchanged, and if properly cared for, will live a long and comfortable life.
i fed my birds bird food
“Man can not live on bread alone!” Of course they eat bird seed it is like bread is one of our staple foods but we like a variety too even though it isn’t absolutely necessary it does tend to make life more interesting. ;o)
Hi Michael My budgie is about 8 years old and is acting strange. He is constantly in his food pot not sure if he is always eating or if he is just sifting through it. He would never come on your hand but now likes to come on my hand and berry his head in my other cupped hand and will let me stroke his head and body. he seems to want something on his back. he dose not seem ill. He will walk around the room or have a little fly but come back to me and snuggle in my hand. If this is a mating thing why has it not happened before? Very strange.
Hope you can put my mind at rest.
Kind regards
Jenny Way
I am sorry about my late reply but I was traveling. I know this is a horrible question…but is the bird still alive? Normally if they are not hand fed they will not suddenly do it. The only time 2 of my birds did this (on different occasions) was just before they died. But with such an old bird it could also be searching warmth to alleviate age pains. It could also be that through old age he cannot reach his back feathers and feels frustrated. I can only suggest that he be kept lightly warmed, with vitimen rich food (maybe try some fresh millet…you need to moisted regular millet and leave it in a warm bright place for a few days till it sprouts) and maybe also a soluble vitamin dose in his water (available in pet stores). I hope this helps.