The Names Parakeets and Budgies - Any Difference?

User Question
Hi, could you help me out. I was told by a breeder, I only have true parakeets, not budgies. What exactly does she mean. E-mail me asap please. I am trying to do some research on this.

Lisa's Answer
Your breeder isn't speaking clearly. Parakeets are just another name for budgies and these are all one species of birds that originated in Australia. I have an entire page about it here -

http://www.lisashea.com/petinfo/articles/bird_types.html

If what they mean are ENGLISH BUDGIES then these are the SAME species as parakeets/budiges. It's just that these birds were bred to be bigger to do well in bird shows and therefore have a special name. Sort of like calling spotted horses palominos even though they are still a horse just like any other horse is a horse (of course of course).

So ALL budgies are parakeets, all parakeets are budgies. All are in the Melopsittacus undulatus species. There is a group of parakeets called "English Budgies" that are a bit bigger, because they were bred to be bigger, but the only person who cares about that is someone trying to win a bird show prize.

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