Sexing Budgies by Cere Color

[StormyPica]

What is a cere? The cere is the fleshy covering of the base of the upper mandible, through which the nostrils open. It can also be used in the sexing of a budgie.

Basic Ceres:
Light pink cere: Juvi, recessive pied, or Ino (albino, lutino, creamino) males
Dark blue cere: All other males
Light blue and white cere: Young females, or some females when not in "breeding condition"
Light brown cere: Most females when not in "breeding condition"
Dark brown "wrinkly" cere: Females in breeding condition

Unusual Ceres:
Male's blue cere turning brown: An indicator of a serious health issue, such as testicular cancer. See a vet ASAP.
Spotted dark blue and light pink cere: This happens to some dominant pied males.
Green cere: Some males and females can appear to have a green cere in certain lighting. Check in different lighting to see if it's blue. If not, see a vet.

If anyone has anything to add, or any changes, just comment! I hope this helps some people, I see questions on the sex of budgies a lot on here

 

[BirdyBee]

Brown ceres in males can indicate nutrient deficiencies too. So if your bird is on a pellet/seed only diet and they get a brown cere, diet can be the cause. An avian vet visit is always a good idea though.

 

[StormyPica]

Brown ceres in males can indicate nutrient deficiencies too. So if your bird is on a pellet/seed only diet and they get a brown cere, diet can be the cause. An avian vet visit is always a good idea though.

Yes, I just said testicular cancer because it is definitely something people NEED to watch for in their budgies. A brown cere in males can have many health-related causes, but testicular cancer is one of the most extreme.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Yes, I just said testicular cancer because it is definitely something people NEED to watch for in their budgies. A brown cere in males can have many health-related causes, but testicular cancer is one of the most extreme.

I had a male recessive pied Budgie, Buddy, with the typical pink/lavender cere. At about four years old his cere turned "female" (light brown) and remained light brown until he was about 10 years old when it turned back to pink/lavender. The last two years of his life (he lived to be 13) he had chronic kidney failure and was under the care of an excellent avian vet in the Los Angeles area. He was aware that Buddy was a male with a "female cere" that turned back to male, and when Buddy finally died from kidney failure he asked if he could perform a necropsy to examine the inner workings of my "geriatric" budgie (his words) with such an interesting medical history. Of course I consented. He found the remnants of a testicular tumor that had shriveled up after outgrowing its blood supply which explained Buddy's "gender changing". Buddy's kidneys were clogged with urates from his kidney failure and he had bad cataracts in both eyes. The vet learned a lot from having performed the necropsy and I was happy I donated Buddy's body to avian medicine. The relevant takeaway was that Buddy had testicular cancer for years but he did not die from it. His tumor grew for years then it died. So if your male Budgie appears to be undergoing a sex change and it's from a tumor it doesn't automatically mean he's going to die from the cancer!

 

[StormyPica]

Let me add this: male budgie feminization which has no apparent cause happens as well. It's extremely rare, but there are seemingly totally healthy male budgies that experience this.

 

[Nolgi]

Light blue and white cere: Young females, or some females when not in "breeding condition"

Oh, I was wondering why my adult female with chicks had a blue cere! I’d never seen that before in any of my other females and nothing came up online about. Glad to see it’s normal.