Whenever there is a new addition to the family, the first thing we do is research thoroughly on how to care for the new family member. From knowing things to do which can keep him healthy and hearty, we learn everything that shouldn’t be. And all this holds for our feathery family members too. The most common avian pet, budgie, is also hands down the most loved too. He is spoiled and pampered by one and all equally. Budgie parents do everything to give their bird a great quality of life. And knowing A to Z of their bird is a prerequisite for it.
Let’s know everything about budgies, inside out, quite literally.
Understanding Budgie’s External Anatomy
These are all the body parts of your budgie which you practically see on the outside. Let’s list them all one by one to understand our favorite bird thoroughly.
Feathers: Made up mostly of Keratin, they are about 2000-3000 as a whole. Apart from helping them take a flight, they are essential to regulate their body temperature. They also aid in waterproofing, in communicating with the brood and during courtship.
They are the most important part of them budgies are covered with them completely and are usually the first to feel the impact of any sickness in budgie’s health. Their smoothness is proof of budgie’s great health. But if they are rough and patchy in places, there is something wrong with your bird.
During molting season, means when budgie sheds them naturally to grow new feathers, they will be pin-pointed until they are fully grown.
Eyes: Budgies eyes have iris (white ring) and a pupil (black spot inside iris). In some varieties, the pupil can be of a red or plum tone.
Beak: Budgie’s beak has two parts- the upper flexible part and the lower fixed part. It is made up of bone and has a cover of Keratin over it which makes it sensitive to feel and touch.
Nostril: Budgie’s nostrils are exactly above his upper beak and aren’t covered with feathers at all. They give a sense of smell.
Cere: It is the area surrounding nostrils and is a tough skin exactly above the beak. In most of the varieties, it is normally blue colored and quite smooth in males and brown colored and a bit rough in females.
Forehead: It is the area above the nostrils and is covered with little feathers.
Cheek Patch: A triangle-like patch below the eyes on the cheek area of gey, silver or violet feathers.
Birds Ear coverts: It is the feathery-area that covers the budgie’s ear area. They simply protect the ear hidden beneath them.
Mask: It is the facial area of the budgie just below the beak and runs till the spots on his throat. It is white or yellow depending on the budgie’s variety.
Throat Spots: These are the circular black spots that are at the end of his mask. They are comparatively smaller and rounder in small-sized budgies than the large ones.
Nape: It is the area exactly at the backside of the throat area above the budgie’s back.
Breast: The outer curve just below the budgie’s throat area is his breast. It is heavily covered with fluffy feathers.
Belly: It starts where the curve of the breast finishes.
Mantle: It is the triangle-shaped area you’ll see on the top of the bird’s wings.
Tail coverts: They are small feathers covering the area of the tail and giving it a pointed shape.
Rump: It is the area on budgie’s back above the tail feathers. It is where his preening gland can be found from where he collects oil for preening his feathers by rubbing against the gland.
Vent: It is a budgie’s bottom area which is used both for expelling the waste and for laying eggs.
Feet: just like all parrots, budgies also have four toes with two of them pointing in a forward direction and two in the backward direction. They are important for gripping and maintaining a balance of the bird.
Nails: They are just like nails we all have on our fingers. Keeping them clean is an important part of the budgie’s grooming process.
Understanding Budgie’s Internal Anatomy [ Birds Anatomy]
Now, when you have understood the basic outer parts of your bird and can proudly take them while discussing his health with the vet, let’s know his internal organs to understand what codes what uses with us while talking about our budgie.
Tongue: It is an internal organ inside the mouth to help him speak and taste the food.
Esophagus: A long tube from the mouth to the vent carrying budgie’s food.
Trachea: A tube-like structure from nose to lungs transporting vital gases like oxygen in and out of the body.
Pectoral muscles: These are the muscles beneath his breast area and helps him to flap his wings.
Lungs: Lungs perform the basic function of diffusing inhaled oxygen into the bloodstream and are beneath the breast area.
Heart: It is located below the lungs and do the basic function of pumping blood across the body.
Birds Liver: It starts where the heart ends and is a vital organ for digestion.
Kidney: It performs the function of expelling out all the waste and toxins from the body.
Ribs: They are the most important internal organ. Providing a skeletal-like shape to the budgie, they are extremely important to protect the heart, lungs and all the organs encaged inside them.
Small intestine: It helps budgie in digesting his food and also absorbs all the nutrients from his feed.
Testes: These are an important organ for breeding as they are essential to produce sperms.
Ureter: The organ which carries all the uric acid from the budgie’s body to the vent for expelling.
Vas Deferens: The semen produced in the testes has to be transported to the vent for successful breeding. This is done by a tube called the Vas Deferens.
Final Words
Above mentioned are all the important organs, external or internal, and knowing them a bit could help budgie parents in taking care of their little pet. It can also make you understand your bird well in case of any health issue.
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