So I have 2 budgies Kaylee and Sunshine both are female but Kaylee is older than Sunshine. They preen each other a lot but sometiimes Sunshine will just swing her head at Kaylee while Kaylee is groom Sunshine.And they will chase each other around.In the morning everything is clean but when I get home from school I see a bunch of feathers around the cage now, they've been losing their flight feathers I noticed 5 or 6 so far.Is there anything I should be concern about

Thank you ,
Kristen ( beginner)

They're probably going through a normal molt. Female budgies are fairly aggressive so you're going to see some squabbling. But when birds get into a serious fight they don't go for the flight feathers. They're much more likely to attack the head or the back, or even the toes.

If you see them actually yanking feathers out of each other then you might need to separate them for a while. But it sounds like they're pretty good friends on the whole, so my first guess is that they're just molting.

Thanks , I notice a bunch of feather around the cage but they never pluck out each others' feather and I also notice that Kaylee's head has like those spikes which I found out they're called blood feathers and some of her stripe feathers are gone will they grow back?she isn't bald at that spot there's just white feathers there.

PS dang it! Sunshine sometimes swing her head at Kaylee's head/face! well a few cm away FROM kaylee especially when Sunshine's bothered


? Why do my budgies do random stuff or fight when I'm not watching or when I cover up their cage?

The little spikes you're seeing are actually called pinfeathers. The pinfeathers for very large feathers (mostly wing flights and tail feathers) have a blood supply inside the quill while the feather is growing in, so they're called blood feathers. Technically I think all pinfeathers are supposed to have a blood supply, but it isn't noticeable on the small feathers and it isn't dangerous if a small feather gets broken. If a big blood feather breaks, the bird can bleed to death because blood doesn't clot well inside the quill, and the best way to solve the problem is to pull the broken feather out.

Baby budgies have stripes on their head all the way down to the cere. But adult birds lose some of these stripes. They'll still have stripes on the top and back of the head, but the "forehead" area will be plain white or yellow. It's an easy way to tell a baby from an older bird.

A bird can't preen its own head so it's nice that your budgies like to preen each other. Sunshine will help crack the hard sheath off of Kaylee's pinfeathers. A bird that doesn't have a preening partner will eventually get rid of the sheath anyway by scratching the head with the foot, but it's faster when they have a friend helping them out.

Thanks ! That really HELPS! except just yesterday I saw SUNSHINE TAIL BOBBING!!!!! It bobbed quickly like the tail is shivering! I have to take her to a vet right I don't know any vet plus my parents doesn't let and can't be afforded I know you might say I'm irresponsible well yeah but I just got them because their previous owner doesn't have time and it was a gift for him from his friend.

Is she still doing it or was it something very temporary? Tail bobbing can a sign of respiratory problems - the bird is working so hard so breathe that the tail goes up and down with the rhythm of the breath. It's not really a shivering motion though.

Birds sometimes shake their tail feathers, mostly as part of preening. You've probably seen that a million times so I'm assuming that this is something different.

Birds will sometimes shiver, either because they feel cold or because they feel a bit nervous, and sometimes for no apparent reason at all. Cockatiels do this a lot and it scares the heck out of new owners lol.

If there are other symptoms that have you seriously worried that she might be sick, a vet is your best bet. But if it was something that happened and stopped, and she seems fine now and is energetic and eating normally, then there probably isn't a problem. Just keep an eye on her until you're sure she's OK. Birds do their best to hide illness so a predator doesn't pick them out as a good target.

P.S. You might also see some tail-bobbing in a bird that's breathing hard because it just had some vigorous exercise. It doesn't mean that the bird is sick, just that it's breathing heavily. If the breathing goes back to normal quickly there isn't a problem.

Yes she's still doing it from either getting nervous ( because I was really close to her and she isn't tamed yet)
or SICK. Her tail is shaking while going up and down and she doesn't exercise a lot I mean she's younger than Kaylee but Kaylee exercises more? Kaylee also seems healthier except I think the little bare part right above the cere .

Does she do it when you're not standing close by? If it happens frequently and there's not an obvious reason for it, then she might actually be sick.

So when I try to stay my farthest from her she does tail bobbing slowly and in little movement