How to Tell a Budgie’s Age (Complete Guide)

Wondering how old your budgie is? Estimating a budgie’s age can be tricky, but there are clear signs you can look at. From the bars on their forehead to the color of their cere and the appearance of the iris ring in their eyes, each feature can help you figure out your bird’s age.

If you’re unfamiliar with some of these terms (like cere or iris ring), click here to learn more.

1. Forehead Bars – First Sign of Age

• Budgies younger than 4 months still have dark horizontal bars running down their forehead, all the way to the cere.

• During their first molt (around 3–4 months old), these bars disappear, leaving the forehead clear.

• If you see a clear forehead, your budgie is at least 4 months old.

2. Beak Color – Excess Melanin in Young Budgies

• Baby budgies often have black patches or a darker beak caused by excess melanin.

• As they mature, this fades, and the beak becomes a consistent light color (depending on the mutation).

• If you see a dark beak, your budgie is still quite young.

3. Cere Color

The cere (the fleshy area above the beak) changes color with both age and gender:

• Young Male Budgies: Purplish or pink cere.

• Adult Male Budgies: Deep blue cere.

• Young Female Budgies: White to light blue cere.

• Adult Female Budgies: Tan, brown, or whitish-blue cere (changes with breeding condition).

This is one of the easiest ways to tell the difference between young and adult budgies.

4. Iris Ring

The eyes are one of the clearest age indicators:

• Chicks & young budgies (under ~8 months): Entire eye appears black, no visible iris ring.

• Around 8–9 months: A faint whitish or gray iris ring begins forming around the pupil.

• Adults: A distinct white (sometimes light gray) iris ring is clearly visible.

In the example image below, you can clearly see the iris ring around the pupil of an older budgie:

Quick Age Reference

• 0–3 months: Forehead bars present, dark beak, all-black eyes.

• 4–6 months: Bars gone, cere starting to change, eyes still dark.

• 6–9 months: Cere color more defined, iris ring beginning to show.

• 9+ months: Iris ring clearly visible, beak lightened, cere in adult color.

By combining these signs, you can estimate a budgie’s age within the first year of life. After that, it becomes much harder to know the exact age — an adult budgie of 2 years looks nearly the same as one of 8 years.

Still, knowing the basics like forehead bars, cere color, beak melanin, and iris ring will help you confidently answer the common question:
“How old is my budgie?”

While these signs work for most budgies, some color mutations develop differently:

• Albino & Lutino Budgies: They usually don’t develop iris rings, keeping red or pink eyes throughout life.

• Recessive Pied Budgies: Often retain dark eyes without iris rings, making them look “younger” forever.

• Dilute & Fallow Mutations: Eye and cere colors can appear lighter or different compared to standard budgies.

• Females in Breeding Condition: Their cere may turn dark brown, making them look older even if they’re still young adults.

If your budgie belongs to one of these mutations, you’ll need to rely more on clues like forehead bars and beak color during the first year.