Do budgies normally have a leader in a group,i have six and i was wondering if there is a pecking order lol?

Answer 1

Actually, no.
This has been a subject of discussion for ages and most people are still not familiar with recent scientific data.
The following is a quote from a paper titled, "Height Dominance" by Steve Martin of Natural Encounters Inc.
It was published in August of 2001, in "Psittascene Magazine", a publication of The World Parrot Trust.

"That leads me to my next question: How does it apply to the behavior of the species in the wild? Some have said that is it “natural” for a parrot to want to be dominant. Many people have talked about, and even described in
great detail, hierarchies in flocks of wild parrots. Some even go as far as to state that you can tell the rank a parrot
holds in the hierarchy by its height in a tree. The higher the perch in a tree the more dominant the parrot is over the others. I am fortunate in that I have had many opportunities to observe several species of parrots in the wild.
I have never seen anything that even remotely resembles a hierarchy in wild parrots.
But, don’t take my word for it. I have also talked to many parrot field researchers (at least six) whose profession is studying parrots in the wild. None of these experts could recall ever seeing any form of hierarchy in wild parrots.
Plus, the description of ranking the dominance position by the height a bird takes in a tree brought puzzled looks, laughter, cynicism and worse from almost every expert I spoke with. All of these experts talk about the aggression
they see in parrots on a daily basis. These aggressive acts are generally associated with the acquisition or protection
of resources. They relate that the winner of one confrontation may just as easily loose the next confrontation with the same bird later. There is no consistently dominant bird in a group of wild parrots. Also, none of the experts could recall ever seeing aggression for the sake of establishing dominance. And, none of them have ever seen any form of hierarchy related to the way parrots position themselves in a tree.
To put it bluntly, Height Dominance does not exist in parrots. It is most likely just a projection of someone’s personal beliefs that for some seem to make sense when applied to parrots. Naïve bird owners searching for easy answers to complicated problems readily buy into the concept that a parrot will feel dominant over a person when held above eye level and that the bird will express this dominance through aggression. The accompanying myth about wild parrots forming hierarchies that are coordinated with the position a bird takes in a tree is equally inaccurate. Parrot behavior is far more complicated than this.
Why then do so many people subscribe to the height dominance theory? To begin with, hierarchies are common in human societies. When people were young it was the taller people who were dominant over them (height
dominance?). Even as adults, most people experience relationships with other people that are hierarchal in nature.
These relationships are more associated with social relationships than with physical relationships such as height."

He also points out:

"Simply stated, parrots like being in high places. Their survival instincts tell them to be up high where they are less vulnerable to predators, get a better view of their surroundings, can make quicker escapes, etc. Companion
parrots may also learn that being on a person’s shoulder, or even their head, is desirable. Some like the shoulder because they like to be near their owner’s face. Others may enjoy sitting on the relatively stable perch a shoulder
affords. And some like being on the shoulder because they are away from the person’s hands that they may have had some negative associations with in the past. For whatever reason, shoulders, curtains, tops of cages, etc., are all desirable perches for most parrots."


If you're interested in reading the entire paper,
you can find it at this link:
http://www.naturalencounters.com/
It's under "Papers and Presentations" and the title is "Height Dominance".
While many people are still under the misconception of supposed height dominance in birds, the truth is that things are not always what they seem.
By always asking the question, "What is the bird's motivation?", and some intense observation, we get a greater understanding of our bird's behavior.
I hope this helps with your question.

Added Note: Ummm..."Person" made a comment about a "pack" of birds.
Just to clarify- Pack behavior and Flock behavior are quite different. Current evidence available suggests that there is "dominance" in pack behavior, however there seems to be no evidence of it in flock behavior.

Answer 2

Six budgies! A glutton for punishment?
Yes, budgies are very social birds and establish hierarchies even in as small a "flock" as yours.

Answer 3

There is always one that is the most dominant and there is a pecking order to every pack of birds
.

Answer 4

not sure about a leader, but i have 2 , the older one acts as the parent & always lets the "baby " eat first, & really seams to cater to the younger one. scooter is about 8-9 yrs old...pidgy passed away about a year ago so we got a new cage mate & named him baby, scooter does the same with baby as he did pidgy...give him first pick of everything.

Answer 5

oh yes. theres such a thing called the pecking order.. top bird always gets the best perch.

Answer 6

Put the six in a cage and the last one standing is de boss.

Answer 7

Nope

Answer 8

How do we know ,why don't you watch your budgies !

Answer 9

Why are you laughing at yourself?

Answer 10

idk i just got my budgie today.