Hey guys! Sorry I've been MIA, a lot has happened recently, and I've been working hard to get my new budgies (and a new puppy!) settled into my house.

I had a question, my budgies tend to be very loud most of the day. I'm going to try and record a bunch of their usual sounds to ask you guys what they could mean (I read the article on the main site about budgie sounds, but I'm still unsure about what means what), and I'm also going to upload some pictures soon so you can help me establish what their genders are, but I'm pretty certain they're both little boys.

Anyways, my question is; do male budgies tend to be louder than females? Or is there any possibilities as to why they're loud? I know birds tend to sing for territorial reasons, so I'm wondering if that's what their doing (I'm not sure if males tend to be more territorial). I'm 98% certain Walt is a male, and I think Skyler is too (which is bad because I named her/him after a female character), and they're both very loud and talkative.

I think I said everything I needed to say. I'll reread this later for clarification, otherwise please ask if I don't make sense uou I'm really hyper and I have a lot of stuff planned to do tonight so my mind is running really fast

Yes, cock budgies are more active, vocal and have different ranges in the chirps they produce. Hens just tend to make "ACK ACK" noises or just a contact call "CHIRP". Cocks have nice gibberish. Birds are birds, and their voice is one of the best ways they can express themselves, besides for body language. Cock budgies don't sing for territory reasons. For that, they will pick on, interrupt, fight with or chase away a competitor. They sing to make noise, get noticed, be happy and just let you know, "I'm here, so to validate that statement, allow me to vocalize for you."

Ahh very cool, and that makes a lot of sense! I don't mind their noise at all, though today they were especially loud and I wouldn't have minded a half an hour or so of silence, but most of the time I love listening to them.

I thought cocks would be more talkative, so I'm glad I was right in my assumption haha. That's giving me more reason to believe Skyler is a male now, too.

I think budgie boys frequently chatter for the sheer joy of it - they're happy little characters! Budgies are actually considered to be one of the quieter parrots - they vocalize a lot, but the volume is pretty low and they can't achieve the ear-splitting glass-shattering noise level that a lot of parrots can.

Ah, well, then I hope something isn't wrong with them? Because usually they keep it at a tolerable level, but every now and then they get very loud and I've been tempted to put their cage in the bathroom for a while until they settle back down.

I was also wondering, would music be good for them? Maybe even keeping it on during the day when I'm not home? I play music often when I'm in my room, and they seem to enjoy it but I worry if it hurts them or if they get stressed by it. I think I heard from a friend that some birds even prefer certain types of music. Sorry if this is a silly question.

When you have a spring/summer enhanced hormonal flock of 4 cocks in one room, you wish you can get 10 minutes of silence! Nothing stops Jaid when he wants to go.

My dream bird is a blue crown conure. They can scream at 105 decibels. That's as loud as a chainsaw or lawnmower in your house.

Oh lordy, that's loud, haha. If I had the space and much more free time, I'd love to get an African Grey Parrot. Ever since I read about Alex the African Grey, and met my friend's, Cody, I love them, even though Cody can scream very loud, but he's so cute and so much fun.

Beck likes Kelly Clarkson. Soft music is said to be soothing. That is not a silly question at all. Lots of bird owners do it.

Oh, and a child having a temper tantrum is 110 decibels.

Awesome, thanks much!!

I hope you don't mind if I keep asking questions in this thread as they come to me.

A couple hours ago I had to move them back into their original small cage while I work on the cover for their new cage. To do so, since they're still not comfortable being handled, we had to put the cage doors open and facing each other, then take the top off the big cage and corral them into the smaller cage. My step dad helped me, and had to catch them and grab them (he was very gentle), but I'm really afraid that it's traumatized them and I'll have a harder time conditioning them towards handling? Earlier today I was able to put my hand in the cage and move it slowly closer towards Skyler, and s/he was very calm and accepting of it, so I know we were making big progress but I'm concerned that we've ruined a lot. Are they still redeemable?

And going on that thought - since they've gone so long without being handled and worked with, is there such a thing as being "too late to handle them"? I know it's much easier to teach birds and get them used to contact at a younger age, so it'll probably be more of a challenge to get them to a workable point.