I have been raising budgies for years and they have different preferences for sounds. Many owners choose to play budgie sounds in order to keep their bird company when they aren’t at home, but is this actually necessary?
Should I play budgie sounds for my budgie? You can play warm and soothing sounds, below 7KHz and 50dB, that can calm budgies and some even chirp back. A good idea is to play your voices to enhance relationships. Avoid harsh, rapid, and loud sounds as they can scare the budgie.
I was able to come to this conclusion after playing different sounds and raising numerous budgies. Not to miss, I did confirm with other budgie owners before informing you here.
In this article, we’ll take a look at how you can make your own decision about whether or not it’s beneficial to your bird to listen to budgie sounds when you aren’t around to provide companionship yourself.
Do Budgies Like Music?
Budgies like music and sound depending on the scenario, personality, need, and rhythm of the song. As they are social birds, most of the budgies like music that are calm and replicate their sounds. However, there are different reasons why birds would like music or other types of sound.
Some birds love to listen to music because it makes them feel safe in their environment; others will only sing along if you sing with them and some even seem to dance to certain beats in a specific rhythm.
There are factors like frequency of music, sound level, and budgie size that develop their affinity. In a research article, a sound in the range of 40dB-60dB is convenient and promotes their liking.
What Type of Music Does My Budgie Like?
When looking at animal behavior, one important thing to keep in mind is that they do what works best for them. So although humans may find great comfort listening to music whenever they want, our pet birds have different needs. Here is a questionnaire for you to check if your budgie likes music or not.
- When given an option between silence and music…what happens?
- Does your budgie pick silence over having some sweet tunes playing all day long?
- Do they prefer singing along on loop while running around their cage dancing (while all fluffed up) while bobbing their head back and forth rhythmically?
- Is there a specific kind of tune they prefer? And if so, why do they like that particular kind?
Here is the music that my budgies absolutely enjoy since they can easily connect and feel excited.
Why doesn’t my budgie enjoy music?
- Choice of human interaction
The first factor to consider would be if your bird likes human interaction or not. If a budgie just doesn’t like being touched, interacted with, or picked up often, then it might not enjoy listening to music—especially if it has nothing else going on during those times!
2. Type of sound and past experience
Budgies are like any other type of animal: they can become stressed or aggressive if stressed or startled by loud noises; especially if they don’t recognize where those noises come from and even more so if constantly exposed every single day! Once your bird gets used to certain types of sounds – whether it’s classical music or something else – they start to calm down and relax.
Sometimes, it can also be frightening for them for their sizes. It can take sometime. Here is a chart from a research article that links environmental noise level and song level.
How to make budgies enjoy sounds?
Body mass, volume of sound, and frequency, in addition to comfort in the environment, influence a budgie in enjoying sounds.
Play sounds that your budgies are already used to and do that frequently so budgies feel secure and comfortable. Explore with a new playlist to let them enjoy all kinds of sounds.
I once let a few of my budgies stay together and then turned the music on. I found them socializing since the music was soothing them. So, I found that they are enjoying and having a positive impact.
Budgies love rhythm but remember that some rhythms may make them feel uneasy while others can make them feel comfortable enough to lay down and take a snooze! There’s nothing wrong with allowing your birds to listen to music now and again but you shouldn’t force it upon them every time.
Choose several different types of tunes – classical music with soft cello melodies mixed with drum-heavy reggae beats (choose songs without lyrics). Pond5 has multiple budgie sounds that you can download and play as a playlist.
Your birds will get lots of enjoyment out of hearing their surroundings put into musical form. Plus they’ll associate positive emotions with each genre which helps control stress and builds relationships.
All you need to do is to try just like how you train a budgie to come to you.
When Should I Play Budgie Sounds?
There are two good times to play your bird budgie sounds: Just before and after a flight, and just before and after cage cleaning. Birds can get bored of hearing these kinds of noises at other times since they are engaged with other activities.
As a result, it’s best to hold off on playing those types of tunes during other parts of your day-to-day life. Most people only tend to hear songbirds singing in their cages when they first wake up. Try playing budgie sounds when you put your pet in its cage as soon as you leave for work each morning.
Is it cruel to play budgie sounds to a budgie?
Playing budgie sounds to a budgie is not cruel as long as it leaves a comforting experience. Playing weird, loud, fast, and rap music can be cruel and also affect their emotions.
To confirm that you are not cruel in playing budgie sounds, you should check the following.
- Look for behaviors and personality after playing budgie sounds for a week.
- Find out if your budgie is regularly interacting with you.
- Check out if your budgie is stressed after playing each sound.
- If you have more than one budgie, find out if they are having the same relationship.
Some budgies tend to dominate or close one eye indicating something that you should pay attention to.
Forcing a play date upon your budgies could harm their psyche and cause undue stress – something no pet owner wants for their companion animal friend.
Conclusion
Budgies have hearing ranges that differ from those of humans. Hence, as budgie owners, we need to be cautious in choosing the right playlist that they can listen to and enjoy.
It is highly recommended to play budgie sounds and mild music so they can understand and chirp back. Of course, this is not cruel. They will vocalize and socialize over time.