Budgerigars can be great fun to keep and breed.  They come in many different colours.  There are two main colour groups - Green and Blue.  The Green family includes Light Greens, Dark Greens, Olive Greens and Grey Greens.  The Blue family includes Sky Blues, Cobalts, Violets, Mauves and Greys.

There are a number of other colours and varieties, Spangles, Clearwings, Greywings, Lutinos, Albinos, Yellow-faces, Dominant Pieds, Recessive Pieds, Opalines, Cinnamons and Opaline Cinnamons.  There are more specialist colours but these cover the main colours that are kept and bred.

Genetics can be confusing but interesting.  Greens are always dominant to the Blues, which are recessive.  However, this does mean that all Green birds can carry the Blue factor in hidden form.

Sex-linked varieties are interesting in that a sex-linked cock will produce all its young hens with the same colour.  The sex-linked varieties include Albinos, Lutinos, Cinnamons, Opalines and Lacewings.

One of the fascinating things about breeding Budgerigars is that you never know quite what to expect in the nestboxes when it comes to colour.  There are always surprises.

Click here to visit our Picture Gallery with examples of many of the varieties of budgerigar to be found.