The patch above a budgie’s beak can stay pink for life or change colour over time. What can it really reveal about the bird’s sex?
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This patch of bare skin is called the cere. In most healthy adults with wild-type colouring, the male’s cere is blue. A female’s can be pale outside the breeding season, then turn brown and sometimes crusty when she is in breeding condition.
But colour can be misleading: adult males with certain colour mutations, such as albino or lutino, keep a pink to purplish cere. In these cases, a DNA test is recommended to determine the bird’s sex.
A colour change also deserves attention: if an adult male’s cere turns from blue to brown, a testicular tumour is one possible cause. It warrants a veterinary consultation.
