Parakeets come in a variety of shapes and sizes from your traditional parakeet otherwise known as a budgerigar, rose ringed parakeets, monk parakeets and so one. The overall parakeet classification is given to medium to small sized parrots with long tail feathers.

Considering the multiple different species, the environments in which they all live in won’t be the same either.

Parakeets are scattered all over the globe from South America, Australia, Africa, Asia etc. These environments are all on the hotter side where temperatures tend to stick between 5 – 40°C, depending on whether its summer or winter so you could say that their temperature is tropical however, parakeets as a whole are not tropical birds. 

In fact budgies tend to cover most of the Australian range yet they avoid the more tropical environments. Parakeets as a whole do rather much prefer staying within areas that are drier whether it be savannahs, woodlands, as well as open plains and grasslands.

What Climate Do Parakeets Like Staying Within?

Feathers do have their pros and cons but, due to the their fluffy nature they will trap in more heat than necessary therefore, most birds with thicker, fluffier feathers prefer staying within a more balanced environment as they don’t want to be overly hot and require a a constant source of hydration or to expend extra energy to keep their body warm.

The ideal temperature for a parakeet is between 21 – 24°C (70 – 75°F).

Other parrots like macaws are tropical birds but, they’re also on the larger side so hunting them wouldn’t be nearly as easy as smaller birds like parakeets that are far from the most agile bird species around.

If not for the external dangers and the diverse ecosystem of tropical rainforests, parakeets would actually find its warmer weather to be within its ideal range of 20°C – 30°C.

Can Parakeets Handle Hot Weather?

When discussing your average budgerigar, who are commonly referred to as parakeets within the states, they are very good at handling heat as their native residence is Australia which is on the hotter side.

On average it is often exceeds 35°C (95 °F) whilst most winters don’t dip below 5°C (41 °F).

As a result parakeets have had to adapt to the climate and in turn become more capable at handling the heat. Of course even in such a situation most budgies would struggle to handle the more extreme heat of Australia, where anything above 40°C could cause them to overheat.

Other parakeets like the rose ringed parakeets are native to central Africa and Southern Asia whilst monk parakeets are native to southern America and can be found within countries like Bolivia, Brazil or Argentina.

As a result both rose ringed and monk parakeets can handle heat quite well although this isn’t to say they wouldn’t suffer a heatstroke if the weather was extremely hot.

Can Parakeets Handle Colder Weather?

Yes, parakeets can handle colder weather but, as is the case with heat, there is a limit to how cold an environment they can handle. Once it goes below a threshold of around 5°C and below, if they’re unable to find warmer shelter, they could potentially face a fatal outcome.

The cold threshold for budgies is actually higher than their bigger parakeet counterparts as they are much smaller and regulating heat through their small bodies won’t be great despite having the ability to fluff up to keep warm.

In the wild budgies are known to huddle in groups to maintain heat which helps them get through the colder wintery months.

Ring nose parakeets have even migrated to the UK lately, which is far from the warmest place around with temperatures in London, regularly dipping below the 5 – 10°C range.

All in all, even though parakeets could technically handle a bit of cold, if extended over a day or 2, chances are they would catch a cold, which could be potentially fatal.

Why Do Parakeets Not Stay Within Tropical Rainforests?

There’s not a specific reason why parakeets don’t stay in tropical environments but, there are contributing factors as to why a medium to small sized parrot, especially one as social as budgie, monk parakeet or ring rose parakeet prefer more open drier environments.

Some reasons may includes:

• Large birds of prey or other predators could hunt them there
• There’s more competition for food and shelter
• The weather is more turbulent, heavy rain, extreme heat, extreme drought and of course forests fires (though I doubt parakeets can actually predict this)

There are probably a huge variety of other issues present within tropical rainforests despite the abundance of vegetation and in turn food sources for parakeets to consume but, even then it simply isn’t suited for them.

More competition means they will have to more aggressive, fight for food, shelter and considering the more dense and hectic nature of rainforests as opposed dry savannas and woodlands, other than the lack of easy access to water, parakeets are simply safer outside.

Summary

Despite tropical environments meeting their ideal temperature requirements of around 20 – 30°C which means they could comfortably adapt there, parakeets are by nature not tropical and are in fact more commonly spread in drier, more open environments.

In short parakeets are not tropical birds as their main habitat is not tropical in nature, with most budgies, rose ringed parakeets and monk parakeets opting to stay in more industrialised, sometimes urban, and most often open habitats.