[BUDGERIGAR]

Melopsittacus undulatus

Status: No accepted records.

Taxonomy: No subspecies are recognized (Gill et al 2022).

Comments: Nebraska sightings are of escaped or released cage birds. A free-flying yellow morph bird considered “probably an escape” was seen at a feeder in Kearney, Buffalo Co 8 Aug 1991. One was seen flying near Wakefield, Dixon Co 18 Aug 1999, also “surely an escape” (Jan Johnson, personal communication), as were others in Lincoln, Lancaster Co Sep 2004 and 13 Sep 2011. Singles were with House Sparrows in Omaha, Douglas Co 7 Oct 2012 and at Stinson Park, Omaha, Douglas Co 18 Oct 2013 (photo, above). One was at Glacier Creek Preserve, Douglas Co 25 Sep 2023.

This species had been established in Florida since the early 1960s, but by 2015 the population had virtually died out (Pranty 2001, 2015). There do not seem to be established populations elsewhere in the US, possibly due to hard freezes, but reports of presumed escapees and released birds are numerous (eBird.org, accessed Nov 2023).

Images

Literature Cited

Gill, F., D. Donsker, and P. Rasmussen (Eds). 2022. IOC World Bird List (v 12.2). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.12.2.  http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.

Pranty, B. 2001. The Budgerigar in Florida: Rise and fall of an exotic psittacid. North American Birds 55: 389–397.

Pranty, B. 2015. The disappearance of the Budgerigar from the ABA Area. Birding 47: 26-32.

Recommended Citation

Silcock, W.R., and J.G. Jorgensen. 2023. Budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus). In Birds of Nebraska — Online. www.BirdsofNebraska.org

Birds of Nebraska – Online

Updated 25 Dec 2023