Melopsittacus undulatus
(Shaw, 1805) · speciesAt a glance
Sources14 archives
Databases and archives Melopsittacus undulatus's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation21 languages↗
Animal Diversity WebUniv. of Michigan MZspecies account↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility101 727 records↗
OBISOcean Biodiversity Information System242 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI271 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics46 specimens↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome & karyotype↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinegenome & karyotype↗
Paleobiology DatabasePBDB consortiumfossil record↗
WikidataWikimedia Foundationstructured facts↗
IOC World Bird ListIOCbird checklist↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
The budgerigar ( ; Melopsittacus undulatus), also known as the common parakeet or shell parakeet, is a small, long-tailed, seed-eating parrot usually nicknamed the budgie ( ), or in American English, the parakeet. Budgies are the only species in the genus Melopsittacus. Naturally, the species is green and yellow with black, scalloped markings on the nape, back, and wings. Budgies are bred in captivity with colouring of blues, whites, yellows, greys, and even with small crests. Juveniles and chicks are monomorphic, while adults are told apart by their cere colouring, and their behaviour. The species is the only member of the genus Melopsittacus, which is the only genus in the Melopsittacini tribe. The origin of the budgerigar's name is unclear. First recorded in 1805, budgerigars are popular pets around the world due to their small size, low cost, and ability to mimic human speech. They are likely the third most popular pet in the world, after the domesticated dog and cat. Budgies are nomadic flock parakeets that have been bred in captivity since the 19th century. In both captivity and the wild, budgerigars breed opportunistically and in pairs. They are found wild throughout the drier parts of Australia, where they have survived harsh inland conditions for over five million years. Their success can be attributed to a nomadic lifestyle and their ability to breed while on the move. The budgerigar is closely related to lories and the fig parrots.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Size & morphology14
Life cycle & reproduction11
Diet & foraging5
Habitat & environment4
Physiology & chemistry2
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Melopsittacus undulatus has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
Besides the big genome in the nucleus, cells carry a small, circular loop of DNA inside the cell's energy factories — the mitochondria. It is inherited almost only from the mother and is a leftover from ancient bacteria that moved into the cell. The mitochondrial markers above (ND*, COX, CYTB…) are read from exactly this loop. Outer ring = one strand, inner ring = the other.
The complete instruction manual Melopsittacus undulatus carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
2n 583×GoaT · Animal Chromosome Counts Database · GoaT · Animal Genome Size Database
2n 603×GoaT · Animal Chromosome Counts Database · GoaT · Animal Genome Size Database
2n 592×GoaT · Animal Chromosome Counts Database
2n 622×GoaT · Bird Chromosome Database
2n 501×GoaT · Animal Chromosome Counts Database
2n 511×GoaT · Animal Chromosome Counts Database
2n 521×GoaT · Animal Chromosome Counts Database
2n 531×GoaT · Animal Chromosome Counts Database
2n 541×GoaT · Animal Chromosome Counts Database
2n 551×GoaT · Animal Chromosome Counts Database
2n 561×GoaT · Animal Chromosome Counts Database
2n 571×GoaT · Animal Chromosome Counts Database
Sequencing statusassembly quality — how far to trust these numbers
Assembly level tells you how finished the sequence is — from fragmented contigs, through scaffolds, up to a full chromosome-level assembly. BUSCO % estimates completeness: the share of genes expected to be present that were actually found. These describe the data quality, not the organism.
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
How it livedPBDB
Record type101 969 records
Origin
Range
Depth
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions30 of 58 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| DOI/NPS, Salem Maritime National Historic Sitelocation not on record | 203 |
| Australian National Wildlife Collectionlocation not on record | 127 |
| Sydney, AU | 123 |
| Museums Victorialocation not on record | 97 |
| Western Australian Museumlocation not on record | 54 |
| Chicago, US | 51 |
| Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territorylocation not on record | 28 |
| Natick, US | 26 |
| Seattle, US | 21 |
| Ohio State University - Bird Division, Columbus, OH (OSUM)location not on record | 16 |
| Philadelphia, US | 15 |
| Denver, US | 15 |
| EL PASO, US | 13 |
| Museo civico La Terra e l'Uomo di Crocetta del Montellolocation not on record | 10 |
| Berkeley, US | 9 |
| BG-NMNHSlocation not on record | 8 |
| Ann Arbor, US | 8 |
| Washington State University, Charles R. Conner Museumlocation not on record | 8 |
| Cambridge, US | 8 |
| Copenhagen, DK | 6 |
| Saint John, CA | 6 |
| Universidad de Caldas (UCaldas)location not on record | 6 |
| Ciudad de México, MX | 6 |
| QVMAGlocation not on record | 6 |
| New Haven, US | 6 |
| Toronto, CA | 5 |
| München, DE | 4 |
| South Kensington, GB | 4 |
| Provincia di Livornolocation not on record | 3 |
| University of Nebraska State Museumlocation not on record | 3 |
| Zografou, GR | 2 |
| Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallerylocation not on record | 2 |
| MZLUlocation not on record | 2 |
| RBINS-Scientific Heritagelocation not on record | 2 |
| Brussels, BE | 2 |
| Instituto Tecnológico Metropolitanolocation not on record | 2 |
| Royal Saskatchewan Museumlocation not on record | 1 |
| Mexico City, MX | 1 |
| Philip L. Wright Zoological Museumlocation not on record | 1 |
| Musée des Confluenceslocation not on record | 1 |
| National Museum of Natural Sciencelocation not on record | 1 |
| University of Wyoming Museum of Vertebrateslocation not on record | 1 |
| SMNHTAUlocation not on record | 1 |
| Tilburg, NL | 1 |
| CASlocation not on record | 1 |
| Los Angeles, US | 1 |
| Vancouver, CA | 1 |
| Science Museum of Minnesotalocation not on record | 1 |
| Stockholm, SE | 1 |
| Stockholm, SE | 1 |
| Zacatecas, MX | 1 |
| Iowa City, US | 1 |
| Indiana State Universitylocation not on record | 1 |
| Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural Historylocation not on record | 1 |
| Wuzhou, CN | 1 |
| Salzburg, AT | 1 |
| Moore Laboratory of Zoology, Occidental Collegelocation not on record | 1 |
| Washington, US | 1 |
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Where the DNA of Melopsittacus undulatus was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Modelled climatemodelled
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.