Parakeet is ill?????

Question
My daughter has an 5 year old parakeet, we think is a girl because the top of her beak is pinkish color. Lateley she's been sleeping a lot, usually she was a very noise happy bird. Now she's been like that for  two to three weeks, she puffs up when sleeping and she's still perching but I'm afraid that she can start going worse. Yesterday I saw her vomiting like snezing at the same time. My grandma has been breading this type of birds for some time and she thinks it could be mating season. But this is the first time we see our parekeet like this.  

Answer
No, this is not mating behavior... this is definitely signs of a sick bird. You need to get this budgie (aka: parakeet) to an avian vet asap!

Birds usually are very subtle in the early warning sings that they are sick. Sleeping for extended periods (or more often than usual), being fluffed up even if the weather is warm, etc. are all signs of a sick bird. And the vomiting/sneezing are also clear signs of a sick bird. If she doesn't receive medical treatment soon, would will most likely find her sleeping on the bottom of the cage soon (which is usually a very, very bad sign- showing that the disease/illness is very advanced).

You can find an avian vet near you at these websites:

http://www.parrotpro.com/avianlst.htm

www.aav.org

and

http://www.birdsnways.com/articles/abvpvets.htm

I hope this helps... and good luck!

-Maggie