Typical sizes
Bird weight chart: budgie, cockatiel, conure and more, in grams
| Species | Typical size in grams |
|---|---|
| Budgie (budgerigar, parakeet) | About 30 g |
| Cockatiel | About 80 to 90 g |
| Lovebird | Peach-faced 48 to 61 g. Fischer’s 42 to 58 g |
| Parrotlet | Pacific about 26 g. Green-rumped about 24 g |
| Conure | Green-cheeked 62 to 81 g. Sun 100 to 123 g |
| Quaker | Sources disagree: 81.7 g in a species database, about 130 g in 6 pet birds at one hospital |
| Caique | Black-headed about 149 g |
| Ring-necked parakeet | About 128 to 137 g |
| African grey | About 333 to 407 g across three sources |
| Amazon | Blue-fronted 275 to 510 g. Yellow-crowned 405 to 561 g. Orange-winged about 370 g. Yellow-headed about 517 g |
| Eclectus | Sources disagree: 440 g in one, 500 to 600 g in another |
| Cockatoo | Galah about 300 g. Lesser sulphur-crested about 340 g. White 500 to 630 g. Moluccan about 830 g. Sulphur-crested 700 to 950 g |
| Blue-and-gold macaw | About 900 to 1,030 g |
| Canary | One database lists two figures, 13.3 g and 24.3 g, so we give no single size |
| Zebra finch | About 12 g |
Source: Species databases AnAge and Animal Diversity Web · Veladiano 2016 (hospital series). We found no usable figure for society finches or mini macaws. Merck: even the largest parrots usually weigh less than 3 pounds, about 1,360 g.
A typical size is not a healthy range
No veterinary source we could find gives a healthy weight range for any of these birds. These figures come from species databases and small studies, and many describe wild birds. Pet birds can differ a lot. Pet quakers averaged about 130 g in one hospital series against about 82 g in a database. Twelve male budgies in one published study averaged about 45 g, well above the 30 g database figure.
So do not use this chart to call your bird underweight or overweight. Your bird’s own baseline is what counts. A weight taken at a vet visit, while your bird is well, gives you one.
Source: AnAge · Veladiano 2016 · Ergun and Taskin, Animals 2022 · AAV, Signs of Illness
At home
How do I weigh my bird at home?
Weighing a bird on a gram scale
- Use an electronic gram scale and weigh once a week. The Association of Avian Veterinarians (AAV) advises this for every bird owner.
- Our own advice: weigh at the same time of day, before the first meal, on a perch or in a light box, and take off the box weight.
- Our own advice: a small bird needs a scale that reads in 1 g steps or finer. 10% of a 12 g finch is only 1.2 g.
- Train your bird to step onto the scale, with rewards.
- Our own advice: use the average of the first 3 weekly weights as your bird’s baseline, or a weight taken at the vet.
- No scale? Watch the droppings, and call your avian vet if there are fewer.
Chicks are different. They follow a growth chart, so ask the breeder for one and show your avian vet.
Source: AAV, Signs of Illness · NC State University · Merck Veterinary Manual
Body condition
What should a bird’s keel bone feel like?
Feel the chest muscle on each side of the keel
The keel is the breastbone down the middle of the chest. Vets judge body condition by feeling the chest muscles on each side of it, because feathers can hide a thin bird. Published 1 to 5 keel scores disagree with each other, and we found none tested with owners, so we use no numbers. These three plain descriptions are our own wording:
- Thin: the keel feels sharp and the chest dips in beside it. See an avian vet.
- Likely fine: you feel the keel, with rounded muscle on both sides. If this changes, see your avian vet.
- Heavy: you can hardly find the keel, or you feel soft fat on the chest or belly. Book an avian vet check.
Your vet should show you how. Never press on the chest: that makes it hard for a bird to breathe. Skip the check if your bird is unwell or struggles. It does not work on chicks, which have little muscle over the keel before they fledge. A keel that feels fine does not prove your bird is well.
Source: Merck Veterinary Manual, Management of Pet Birds; Injuries and Accidents; Pediatric Diseases
Changes
What does sudden weight loss mean in a bird?
Sudden weight loss is a warning sign
Take it seriously. Illness can take significant weight off a bird in a matter of days, and weight loss is on the AAV’s list of signs that need a vet at once. Feathers can hide even severe loss, and sick birds often keep eating, so your bird may not look any different.
The AAV says a change of 10% up or down means a vet visit. That is 3 g on a 30 g budgie and 40 g on a 400 g grey. No source sets a time window, so count any drop of that size. Our own advice: for a loss of 10% or more, see an avian vet within a day.
Whatever the scale says, a bird that is huddled, weak, unresponsive or on the cage floor, or breathing with the beak open or tail bobbing at rest, is an emergency. Go now.
Source: AAV, Signs of Illness · Purdue University · Merck Veterinary Manual · AAV, Behavior
Smaller changes, and gains
Our own advice: for a change of 5% either way, weigh again in 2 to 3 days and watch for changes. For a gain of 10% or more, book an avian vet check. A steady weight does not prove your bird is well. Read the signs of a sick bird too.
Can I put my bird on a diet at home?
Please do not. We give no calorie plan, and our advice is that home calorie cuts are not a safe practice for birds. Any diet change goes through your avian vet, including a switch to pellets. The Merck Veterinary Manual’s advice for an overweight bird is a measured amount of balanced pellets, with your vet advising how much.
A falling weight is not always good news either, because liver disease can cause weight loss too. Weight alone cannot diagnose fatty liver; your vet can. Galahs, macaws, Amazons and quakers are prone to obesity. With your vet’s plan, a larger cage, food bowls placed apart, climbing and foraging toys all add activity. What parrots eat covers the diet itself.
Source: Merck Veterinary Manual, Nutritional Diseases; Geriatric Diseases · AAV, Care for Senior Parrots
In ParrotSense
Your bird’s weight against their own baseline
- Log each weight in grams and see the trend on a chart
- A baseline from your first 3 weekly weigh-ins, or a weight taken at the vet
- A note at a 5% change and a warning at 10%, each with what to do
- A typical-size line for your species, labelled as typical and never used to flag your bird
- A keel check in three plain descriptions, with no score, and the results carried into the vet report
Launching first on iPhone and iPad, with Android and Amazon soon after.
Questions
Frequently asked
How much should a budgie or parakeet weigh?
How much should a cockatiel weigh?
How often should I weigh my bird?
How do I know if my bird is underweight?
How much weight loss is serious in a bird?
ParrotSense keeps your bird’s weight in grams, compares each weigh-in with their own baseline, and warns you at a 10% change.
See the weight log