Selective breeding over many years have drastically changed the look of some budgies!

There are a number of different names for the smaller original sized budgies including ""wild" "american" and "australian" budgies. The selectively bred to be larger budgies are often called "english" "exhibition" and "show" budgies.

What are some of the differences between these selectively bred budgies? Lets go over some of them

English budgies are 2-3 times the size of a wild type Budgie like you find in most pet stores, and at 2-3 weeks old they are already bigger than an adult wild type budgie as you can see in the picture above.

They also have a much different look to them. They have longer and fluffier feathers, with much more pronounced markings and features than a wild type budgie.

English budgies generally have a more sweet and laid back personality that you don't usually find in standard budgies. Even my completely untamed English breeding pairs will not bite me when er catch and handle them, unlike the pet type who don't hesitate for a second. Hundreds of years of selective breeding for calm personality for showing causes them to be generally more laid back.

They love to roll on their backs and swing from anything they can find. We often think they should have been born monkeys not birds, and seem more like conures than a budgie in many ways since they are always looking for something to get into and wanting to play, which we love in a bird.

They are also tend to be more gentle then the wild type, and more likely to want to cuddle.

With their larger size and more laid back temperament, they are great for families with younger children or as a first bird for people that have never owned one before.

English do seem to be much quieter than standards. They do like to sing and chirp some but they are not constantly making noise like most standards are. Their voices tend to be a bit deeper too, and not as shrill.

They also talk more on an individual basis than the wild type we have noticed. 90% of both the males and females we hand feed are beginning to talk before they are even weaned, which is much more than when we hand fed the wild type.

Regardless of their features they are still budgies and came from the same native Australian budgies, and training and diet is the same.

English budgies were bred from the wild type so their care and such is exactly same, with the exception that since they are bigger in size a slightly larger cage is something they will appreciate so they have more room to move.