Little Beaks

Little Beaks Welfare advocacy and education for small companion birds. Lifelong sanctuary for the most needy. Based in Perth, Western Australia. www.littlebeaks.org
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30/08/2026

How long does it take two budgies to decide whether they like each other?

Too many times I’ve seen people conclude that their bird is antisocial, or simply doesn’t like other birds, because they’ve tried one or two companions and they haven’t gotten along.

But there’s a problem with that conclusion: while budgies need companionship, they don’t automatically like every other budgie they meet.

So, how long does it take?

There isn’t really a set timeframe.

Bird relationships become apparent through patterns over time: who they choose to approach, sit beside, preen, avoid, or repeatedly interact with.

And there’s a whole spectrum between “I choose you” and “please go away".

That’s something worth remembering when we talk about “getting another bird as a friend".

Budgies need the companionship of other budgies. But that doesn’t mean any two budgies will automatically become friends.

We can give them opportunities to form relationships; we can’t choose those relationships for them.

Sometimes good welfare means giving birds choices, then paying attention to the choices they make.

video description: Two budgies sit together on a branch resting on the aviary ground. At the beginning, the male places a foot on the female’s back as they gently interact with their beaks. He then flies away briefly before returning to her. They resume their beak-to-beak interaction, and he nibbles at her shoulder for a brief moment.

23/08/2026

Bird psychology is seriously underappreciated.

We can’t ask a bird what they’re thinking, but we can study how they learn, remember, make choices, solve problems, and respond to other birds.

Bird minds aren’t simply smaller versions of ours. Their cognition has been shaped by their own evolutionary history and the problems birds need to solve.

And that matters for welfare.

If birds have preferences, relationships, and individual ways of responding to their environment, good care is about more than food, water, and shelter. It means opportunities to choose, explore, forage, socialise, and behave like birds.

It’s why we encourage people to look beyond common or traditional practices when making decisions for their birds.

'Common' doesn’t necessarily mean best - or even good - for their behavioural and psychological needs.

video description: visible in the background through a gap fresh leafy branches in the aviary, two budgies preen each other on a separate branch. Another budgie on a higher branch nibbles at the bark and goes upside-down occasionally. More budgies slightly more hidden lower down interact and preen each other. One weiro sits calmly on a branch higher up above the rest. At the end, a second weiro flies in to the further end of the branch, and the first weiro waddles down the branch to meet them.

23/08/2026

When one budgie preens another.... what’s in it for the bird doing the preening?

You might already recognise this as allopreening.

The benefit for the bird receiving it is fairly obvious: another beak can reach feathers around the head and neck that are difficult to preen alone.

But why spend your own time grooming somebody else?

For social birds like budgies, allopreening is about more than feather maintenance. It can also:

• reinforce social relationships
• help maintain established bonds
• strengthen affiliation between birds

In other words, the grooming isn’t necessarily just a favour for the other bird.

Humans aren't the only ones with ulterior motives 😝

video description: Two budgies sit closely together on a natural branch on the soil ground of an aviary. At first, one gently preens the feathers around the other bird’s head and face. About halfway through, the allopreening stops and both birds begin preening their own feathers while continuing to sit side by side.

20/08/2026

Give a flock the same fresh food and watch how each bird approaches it.

I love how they have different preferences, likes and dislikes, as we do.

A bird’s choices can be influenced by things like:

• The food itself: taste, texture, and how easy different parts are to manipulate can affect what gets investigated or eaten.
• Past experience: birds learn what has been familiar, rewarding, or worth investigating before.
• Curiosity and caution: some individuals are quicker to investigate than others.
• The flock: seeing another bird eating something can encourage others to investigate too.
• Motivation: hunger, what they’ve eaten recently, and what else is available can change what appeals at that moment.
• Effort and reward: eating can involve choosing how and where to access and manipulate food.

One choice doesn’t necessarily tell us a bird’s preference. We’d need to see what they choose repeatedly when given different options.

But what we can see here is something important: birds are constantly making decisions.

Giving them safe variety and opportunities to choose gives them more control over how they interact with their environment, and that’s valuable enrichment in itself.

video description: Several budgies and weiros gather on the natural ground of an aviary around fresh broccolini stalks. The birds move around the food, investigating and nibbling different pieces and parts. Blue, grey, yellow and green budgies come and go, while grey and yellow-faced weiros also join in. Individual birds approach from different positions and investigate different areas as the group changes around the food.

19/08/2026

Why does one bird doing something encourage others to join in?

For flocking birds, watching what everyone else is doing can provide useful information. If another bird has found something worth investigating, that’s a pretty good reason to take a look yourself.

Then there’s a snowball effect: one investigates, another notices, more birds join in… and suddenly everyone wants to know what’s going on.

Flock mentality 😄 also helps wonders when new birds join the flock, who may be more nervous or coming from trauma.

video description: A large bunch of curly green kale sits on the natural ground of an aviary. At the beginning, a weiro hops onto the end of a log right in front of the camera, taking the whole scene, before hopping off the other side and wandering off. Budgies of various colours gather around the kale, nibbling the leaves and moving around one another. A white weiro and kakarikis also appear around the feeding area. As more birds join the group, the space around the kale becomes increasingly busy. At one point, a pale olive and yellow budgie approaches a grey-blue budgie and appears to nibble at or investigate them while they're just trying to enjoy the kale.

17/08/2026

Is corn worth disrupting a snooze for? 😅

It was a pretty sleepy time of day in the aviary when we put out one of the flock’s favourite treats.

Most of the birds weren't all that fussed and maintained their comfy resting spots.

But a few couldn’t resist coming down to investigate - including our beloved Pudge 🥰

video description: During a quiet period in the aviary, a large cob of corn sits on the ground among natural branches. Pudge the plumbead eats from it before flying away, just before a yellow and green flies in, lands, and approaches the corn curiously, before having a nibble. A kakariki appears but quickly runs off into the background. Pudge reappears, climbing down one of the branches and getting straight back into the corn nibbling. A couple of weiros make an appearance, but it's mainly the budge and Pudge show.

16/08/2026

Why is a piece of bark so interesting to a budgie?

I often wonder this when I'm watching the birds enthusiastically trying to destroy various items.

To a budgie, a good piece of bark is like Christmas. It’s textured, destructible and full of cracks, edges and fibres to investigate.

Budgies are naturally curious foragers and chewers. Bark gives them something they can grip, scrape, peel, pull apart and explore - and, unlike a smooth, unchanging surface, it responds to what they do.

This little piece is partly buried in the aviary floor, and she’s completely absorbed in working at it from every possible angle. Beak, head and eventually even a foot get involved.

She doesn’t necessarily need to be looking for anything in particular. Investigating and manipulating natural materials can be rewarding in itself.

It’s a good example of why enrichment doesn’t always need to come in the form of a toy.

Sometimes it’s just a really, really interesting piece of bark.

video description: A green and yellow budgie crouches on the aviary floor, intensely investigating a piece of bark partly buried in the soil. She starts from one angle then moves to the opposite side for better access. She pushes and pulls at it with her beak, attempting to lift or dislodge it. Eventually a foot also joins the effort, as she digs a little and also uses the foot as an anchor while she uses her beak.

12/08/2026

Little lady hard at work!

Ever seen a budgie digging?

While they do this for fun and foraging, this one is likely motivated further by nesting instincts.

We don’t breed at Little Beaks, so potential nesting sites are monitored and removed or modified. In this case, we regularly check any holes and fill them back in.

This is the trade-off for giving the birds a more natural environment.

A natural aviary floor gives the birds opportunities to dig, forage, and explore, all behaviours we want them to have opportunities to perform.

video description: A bright green and yellow budgie enthusiastically digs into the natural soil floor of the aviary. She repeatedly scrapes and pushes soil aside with her beak, often stopping to flick it off with a small head shake. She wanders to the opening of the hole to inspect inside. At times, most of her head and body disappear into it before she pops back up, covered in dirt, and continues working. Another budgie (either her mate or hopeful mate) wanders over to inspect her work.

11/08/2026

His previous owners said he couldn’t fly.

He was clipped as a baby and even though the feathers grew out, he never got to develop the skill.

Flight is something learned at fledging, and a bird clipped through that window misses a fundamental part of their development.

He’s working it out now, at his own pace.

Moments like this may be beautiful, but they should never need to happen.

video description: A grey weiro with a yellow face and orange cheek patches is sits on a swinging branch in an outdoor aviary, with gum leaves, a hanging steel foraging toy and mesh walls behind. Text on screen reads: “They said he couldn’t fly…” He crouches, then raises both wings high above his back and holds them spread. No text on screen. He lowers his wings and steadies himself. Text on screen reads: “He’d just never had the chance to learn.” Around and below him, budgies, Pudge the plumhead, and a kakariki, relax on various branches.

I’ve been noticing more and more obviously AI-generated posts and graphics lately, and it’s made me curious about someth...
11/08/2026

I’ve been noticing more and more obviously AI-generated posts and graphics lately, and it’s made me curious about something.

I’m personally not a fan of replacing real photos or original content with generated versions - particularly when we have plenty of very real birds to share!

But I wondered whether knowing something is AI-generated actually changes how people respond to it.

So, an experiment.

One of these images is real. One is AI-generated from the real image.

Without overthinking it: which one do you instinctively trust more?

And a slightly different question: once you know an image or post is AI-generated, does that change how much you trust the information that comes with it?

Not because AI-generated information is necessarily wrong. I’m more curious about whether knowing that something is generated changes your perception of its credibility or authenticity.

Image description: Two very similar side-by-side images show a yellow-faced weiro with orange cheeks perched on a branch in an outdoor aviary. They are leaning as if preparing to fly, their wings stretched out above them.

In the left image, the bird and individual wing feathers appear very sharp and detailed. Their wings form a wide, fairly symmetrical V, the lighting is bright and even, and the surrounding branches and leaves appear relatively neat and clearly defined.

In the right image, the bird is slightly softer and less sharply defined. Their raised wings are less symmetrical, with some feathers overlapping and blurring together. The background is busier, with more tangled branches and leaves, stronger shadows, and less even detail throughout the scene.

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