I have never observed budgies flying free in the wilds of Australia. But I do observe my budgies, flying free in the wilds of a suburban bedroom. They interact as a flock.
When females are in breeding condition, they will fight with other females for nesting sites. All birds will have little squabbles where nobody gets hurt, but when hens fight for a nest site, it can get vicious. In the suburban bedroom there are no real nesting sites, so the budgies get creative and try to nest under dressers, in wastebaskets, on bookshelves, etc. It is these places where two breeding-condition females will get into some serious fighting. Usually I avoid this by observing the birds closely and removing the ones who are ready to breed, putting them in a breeding cage in another room. But if I miss the signs that a female is ready, I find something like this budgie! She has a slash across her head, her eye, and her cere. (Note: she has been treated, is doing fine, and is in a breeding cage. I also found the bird who did this to her, and have set that one up to breed as well.)
The males don't often get into fights. They have a more accommodating nature, I think. But they do fight occasionally. When males fight seriously, it is for the right to court a female. I have seen this situation only rarely. It happens when the female is in breeding condition. Her chosen mate is attacked and/or harassed by another male who wants to court her.
Actually, this picture is of two males who are being friendly. The green one on the left is making courtship gestures toward the blue one on the right. Males will make courtship gestures toward other males or toys or mirrors; the behavior is instinctive.
Notice how similar the posture is in this picture, where this male is making courtship overtures to his mate. See the way the males fluff out their heads and stretch their necks, in both pictures.
These babies are albinos who would be pure white except that they also have a yellow face gene. So they are yellowface albinos. They are just tinged with yellow on their faces, wing and tail tips. (They have red eyes in real life, not just in this picture.)
If you pet the crested area, it won't lay down. Some birds have wild crests that make them seem as if they are having a Bad Hair Day. Others have totally circular crests that look like someone gave them a Beatles haircut, or a bad toupee. The spangled budgie at the bottom of page five has a tuft, which is a small feather disturbance in the forehead feathers.
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A budgie who has any type of feather disturbance on its head is a crested budgie. A "feather disturbance" is when the feather does not lay down smoothly. It is similar to the "cowlick" one sees in human hair and animal fur. The crest can be as small as one feather, or can take over the whole top of the head.
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