Movements and Breeding Seasons of the Budgerigar

Abstract

SUMMARY WYNDHAM, E. 1983. Movements and breeding seasons of the Budgerigar. Emu 82: 276–282. Budgerigars Melopsittacus undulatus range and breed throughout inland Australia. In the far south, where there is a well defined cold wet winter and hot dry summer, Budgerigars arrive in spring, breed and depart in summer. In mid-latitudes Budgerigars normally are present and breed during the hot months; from the mid-south to mid-north there is a shift from a predominance of winter rainfall to that of summer rainfall and from a predominance of Budgerigars abundant and breeding in spring and summer to abundant and breeding in summer and autumn. In years of high rainfall, in mid-latitudes reduced numbers may remain resident during the winter, but they do not breed. In the north, where there is a well defined summer wet season and the rest of the year is dry, Budgerigars often are scarce at the end of the dry season and during the wet season. Breeding in the north occurs predominantly in the earlier part of the dry season, in autumn and winter.