The common parakeets that you will see in pet stores are actually a parrot and are called a budgerigar, or shell parakeet. You'll hear these referred to as budgies or parakeets, and they are a very small parrot species and the only species in the Australian genus Melopsittacus. They are predominantly green and yellow with black markings, but you will find that they have been bred extensively so that there are so many different color variations today. Some of these beautiful variations include: blue and white, yellow and blue, all white, all yellow, and every mix in between. The closests related parrot species to them is the lories and fig parrots.
In the wild, budgies are mainly nomadic birds that are found in open habitats, normally in Australian scrublands, woodlands, and grasslands. They do keep to small flocks but if needed, they can form a very large, noisy flock. They move wherever water and food can easily be found and drought can drive them into more of the coastal or wooded areas that they would not normally be found it. They love seeds of spinifex, grass weeds, and even ripening wheat.
The budgerigar is only one of two different parrot species that are genuinely domecticated, the other being the peach-faced lovebirds. They are widely regarded as being the most common pet parrot in the world and probably the most common caged bird as well. They have been bred in captivity since the 1850's and throughout the years, breeders have worked to produce an endless variety of different colors, patterns, and mutations in their feathers - some of the more unique ones include solid blue, albinos, cinnamon-ino, clearwinged, crested, dark, opaline, pieds, spangled, and even violet.
When compared to the wild budgerigars, the English (or show) budgies are about twice their size. But, this is a combination of both breeding and the size of their feathers, as English budgies have large, puffy head feathers that exaggerate their looks. These can get so large that their eyes and bead can almost be totally covered by these larger feathers. Of course, those that raise English budgies usually do so for show and they normally live between 7-9 years. Most of the budgies that you will find in pet stores are the "wild type" budgies, meaning that they are more similar to those found in the wild instead of the English ones.
But just because they are small doesn't mean that they are not smart! Parakeets, or budgies, can easily be talk to speak, whistle, and play and love interactions with other budgies and humans. Both sexes can learn to sing and mimic sounds as well as do a few tricks. Of course, the singing and mimicing are more prounounced and easier to perfect in males, as females normally will only learn about a dozen words or so. Males have been known to learn between a dozen and hundreds of words. But, those that talk to and work with their budgies the most will see the most interaction with them as they learn more and more words and tricks. You'll easily notice the differences in personalities that different budgies have, and the more that you work with your bird, the more their personality will show.
Budgies love to chew on just about anything that they can get their little beaks on, and will chew on anything in their cages. Females are the worst at this, as they are used to gnaw around the interior of other wild bird nests. It's a great idea to have mineral blocks and cuttlebones as well as soft wooden pieces that they can chew on.
They love whole cereals and whole grains, such as barley, flax, oats, quinoa, wild rice, and whole rices and these are good for them. You can also feel them edible blossoms, such as carnations, chamomille, chives, dandelion, day lillies, hibiscus, honeysuckle, lilacs, pansies, passion flowers, roses, sunflowers, tulips, and violets. But, you can only feed them the flowers themselves as some of the leaves are poisonous to them. Of course, you'll find a wide variety of fruits and other greens that they will fall in love with as well.
As long as you take good care of your budiges, they can live between 9-20 years, depending on their breeding, health conditions, and overall care that they recieve from you. Don't count these small parrots out if you're looking for a smart bird to own, as they can easily become a great friend to everyone in your home.
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