The Budgerigar : Housing the Budgie

Most experts regard the draught-proof box cage as the best type of budgie residence. Any averagely skilled home handyman can knock up a box cage in a matter of minutes. Either plywood or hardboard on a wood frame can be used for the sides. The cage is finished with a ready-purchased wire front of mesh. If the cage is to be painted, remember to use non-toxic paints with a plastic rather than lead base, as budgerigars a great gnawers.

Most families prefer the chromium wire cages sold by pet shops as being more decorative for the living room. If this type of cage is to be used, work to a minimum size of 18 inches long by 12 inches wide. It is sensible when buying a cage to mention to the dealer the type of site intended, i.e. whether the cage is to be suspended from a bracket, fixed to a free standing frame, or stood on a table, and let him advise as to shape.

Tall cylindrical cages should be avoided. Helicopters fly up and down – birds horizontally – and the bars of a budgie cage should be ideally horizontally rather than vertically spaced, to help the bird climb about his home. If the budgie is to spend the greater part of his day at liberty in the owner’s room, a cage with a flap-down front, which serves as a landing platform, is prefer able to the spring door type.

If the budgies are to be housed in a garden aviary, a good rule of thumb guide to the space they will require is a maximum of three birds to each square foot of roost floor area. On this sort of basis it is reasonable to think of an aviary measuring 6 feet by 5 feet tall as providing ample accommodation for three pairs. Although they are sociable birds, budgies, and especially hen budgies, can become very aggressive during their breeding season. However large the enclosure in which they are kept there is always a risk of fights if more than three pairs are housed together during the breeding season. Although squabbles can be minimized by providing more nest boxes than will actually be needed, and ensuring that each box is similarly styled and hung at a similar height, there is always a danger of several hens insisting on the same site and coming to blows over its ownership.

Many owners of budgie colonies over three pairs strong therefore build or buy aviaries of the modular plan type, so that during the breeding season they can be split into several compartments each holding a maximum quota of three pairs. With cage as opposed to aviary breeding, very little fighting takes place. The advantage of cage breeding is that, although it may take a little longer to clean stock cages, they stay neat and tidy for much longer, and it is easier to observe parents and young birds at close quarters.  It is, however, more expensive to set up a caged budgie colony than a aviary.

Read more »

The Budgerigar : Why A Budgie?

As well as the typically ‘parrot’ ability to mimic and thus ‘talk back’ to its owner, the budgerigar is a hardy, cheerful, alert little bird with a great talent for acrobatics. It can master a series of tricks, many of which it discovers for its own amusement, as well as being able to reproduce itself in quantity under captive conditions. Budgerigars usually live to around eight years old.  Instances of ten- or even twelve year old budgies are however by no means rare.  It is fair, however, to point out that the average lifespan of a pet budgie is below this.

Many pets are quite literally killed with kindness, through being fed unsuitable tidbits, or, worse still, being allowed to wander at will tasting everything on their master’s meal tables. This habit is obviously as unhygienic for the owner as it is unhealthy for the bird.

Other pet budgies are accidentally crushed or squashed while at liberty round the house and many escapes through windows or doors which their owners have forgotten to secure before the pet was released. In this context, owners often express great surprise that a bird which was trustworthy all its life, suddenly takes up a previously-overlooked opportunity to escape. It is never safe to leave a cage bird loose in room with the windows and doors open. Nor it is kind.

Although a number of lost budgerigars are recovered, and some find their way back to their owners, usually as a result of being able to speak their owner’s names and addresses, or through the numerically coded budgerigar Society rings they wear, the majority of escapees die miserable deaths from hunger, exposure or being attacked by native wild birds.

Read more »

The Budgerigar

The first cage-bred budgerigars, were, as still are their wild cousins today, green birds with yellow facial markings, black decorations on the wings and the top of head, and a ‘necklace’ of spots beneath the bill.      Today, scientifically-inspired selective breeding has produced budgies in almost every color except pink. A $500 prize awaits the lucky breeder who can produce the first truly pink specimen, although, of course, such a phenomenon would, were it capable of reproducing itself, be worth a fortune anyway. Altogether the expert breeder can produce a list of over 130 clearly definable color varieties in budgies.

From the owner’s point of view, it is probably practical to reduce the almost endless permutations possible to the following basic choices:  green, blue, violet or yellow birds, with either grey wing, cinnamon, opaline or pied marking (a blue bird, with the conventional white or the fancy yellow face).

As well as conventionally marked budgerigars there are albinos and lutinos. Both these types in their pure form have pink eyes and, because of their lack of pigment, are devoid of dark stripings on the face or body feathers. Lutino budgies are a clear canary yellow, and albino’s pure white.  Not all white budgerigars are necessarily albinos. Some ordinarily dark-eyed types are so light in color as to appear pure white, but a careful examination usually reveals tell-tale faint tracings of the darker wing marking. All albinos are white, however.

In baby budgerigars a striped marking, running from the back of the neck, extends over the crown of the head to the top of the bill.  With their first adult plumage the youngsters moult out this barred pattern, replacing it with a clear colored hood, yellow in the green-based types, white in the blue variants.

A glance at an adult budgie’s face tells its sex. In cock budgerigars the cere or wattle, the area immediately above the upper bill, is bright blue, where as in the hen bird, it is brown. Exceptions to this rule are immature babies, and the pink-eyed pigmentless albinos or lutinos in which the cere remains pink in both sexes throughout their life. When sexing very young budgies or albinos, it is useful to remember that the cere is almost always more rounded in shape in the cock bird, and that hens have a much greater tendency to nip when handled than the cocks. A good budgie should be about 8.5 inches long and tip the scales at around 1.5 ounces. When seeking a show champion, judges always look for a curved body shape rather than an angular one, not too slim, nor yet too fat and with the body tapering gradually to the tail.

Read more »

Where to Put the Bird Cage?

A cage bird should have plenty of access to light and fresh air. However no bird cage should be suspended permanently in the broiling sunlight with any shade available to its occupant. Such thoughtless sitting can result in faints or even fatalities. Equally a bird should be kept in a drought free place. Draughts are especially dangerous to the canary and finch family, but adversely affect almost all birds. Bird shelters out of doors should be frost proof and damp proof in the roost area.

As well as having shelter from direct sunlight, cages which contain indoor pets will need to be covered with a light cloth at night. A bird’s natural behavior is to roost at dusk for most birds are virtually ’night blind’. A bird, constantly exposed to electric light during what, for him, should be hours of rest, could develop dietary problems through overeating. Birds continue to feed through all the hours of daylight and may well develop exhaustion symptoms through not having the proper quota of rest.

Read more »

Bringing the Bird Home

Most breeders and dealers have specially designed carrying cases in which buyers can ‘take away’ their purchases. Such containers are suitable for train journeys of up to four hours. For longer trips, a special travel cage of the type used for show specimens will be required. However there will usually be a breeder well within the easy take-home range of any would-be pet owner.

It is important that a pet bird, or indeed any type of pet, should not be an impulse purchase, but that a cage, a suitable supply of food, sand, grit and any other necessities are ready and waiting to receive the new arrival. Travel cages, even the elaborate types used to convey show champions are not suitable as temporary bird homes for more than a day. As well as having supplies on hand, it is advisable to have given some thought to the routine of feeding and cleaning. The bird who is fed at the same hour each day will quickly become reliable ‘alarm’ clock for his master, making it quite clear that ‘dinner time’ has come around by lively movement and continuous squeaking. Regular routines for cleaning as well as feeding all help in taming process and make the chores of bird keeping easier for the owner.

Where only small quantities of seed are needed the manufacturer’s packet is a handy dust proof container. If loose seed mixes are used they should be kept in a sealed glass jar, or a plastic container of the type sold as flour bins, to ensure that the contents are not an attraction to mice. Where the bird seed is stored on the same shelf as the family’s food stuff it should be clearly labeled. Otherwise it is easy for a busy cook to confuse canary mix with caraway seed or other spices!

Read more »

What to Look For When Buying A Pet Bird?

Whether a bird is purchased direct from a breeder or from a reputable dealer, it is important to seek out an alert lively-looking specimen with clean, tight-feathered plumage. A sick bird betrays its poor condition by squatting low on its peach, or hiding in the cage corner with ruffled unkempt feathers, and is a bad buy no matter how cheaply it is priced. This does not mean that it is necessary for every would-be pet owner to pay top prices for prime show birds, which can change hands among enthusiasts at prices up to $50 or more for a single budgie or canary.

Yet another reason for seeking out a breeder of the required type of birds is that very often healthy specimens of excellent pedigree are marred, as show ring specimens, by a single physical flaw. This means a failure to comply with the very exacting specifications set down by show judges, which would be quite non-detectable to the lay eye, and which indeed might aesthetically improve the appearance of that particular individual. These birds are usually sold at what, in relation to their blood lines, are really bargain prices.

Read more »

Where Should I Buy A Pet Bird?

Without wishing to denigrate the many scrupulously honest pet dealers who operate in this country, I recommend the prospective pet-owner to buy his or her bird direct from the breeder. Seeing the quality of stock from which the proposed pet originates is a useful guide to the quality of the individual itself. This is obviously particularly important if the newcomer is intended to be part of a breeding colony. It is not always true that the physically perfect specimen reproduces perfectly. But if the family of that bird is seen to be of uniformly high standard, then it is reasonable to assume that the desirable traits are an inherited quality which will be passed on through the progeny.

Even when a bird is to be a singly kept pet, it is helpful to buy from the breeder. He can provide information about the kind of diet the chick is accustomed to, which will help speedy acclimatization to the new home. Most breeders will be happy to advise the novice in cage bird keeping, and to act as an information bureau for useful local names and addresses, such as that of a vet who is a specialist in handling bird cases.

For canaries, British birds, foreign finches and exotic birds, the best buying time is late summer or early autumn.

By then the new season’s chicks will have achieved their first adult plumage and, singing types will be warbling their first songs, so that sexing is infinitely easier. Budgerigar breeders, aware of the appeal of a new pet as a Christmas present, have managed to regulate the sex cycles of their stock so that chicks of the marketable age of six weeks plus are available during the festive season, are hardier and healthy throughout their lives as a result of this.

The journal Cage birds regularly lists the meetings of local breed societies and through contact with the secretary of such an organization it should be possible to get the names of several breeders specializing in each type of bird. As with all purchases, shopping around before making a final decision generally ensures value for money. Before buying a pet bird, visits to various aviaries will also help the beginner to build up a fund of useful knowledge about the species he or she wants to keep.

Read more »

Which Kind Of Bird Should I Buy?

The types of birds available to the would-be fancier are almost as varied in appearance, habit and character as the humans who wish to acquire them. To get the best out of bird, consider carefully the pros and cons. Think about the habits and requirements of the proposed pet, in relation to the time, space and money available for its upkeep, as well as the tastes and inclinations of the would-be owner.

For example mynah birds are among the best mimics around. However, there have been owners who have been driven near to distraction by a mynah continually repeating the same well-learned phrase over and over again. More over mynahs require a diet of fresh fruit and insectivorous fare which makes them somewhat messier to keep than seed-eating types.

Parrots are long-lived birds, with a span which often exceeds that of their human masters. They are however powerful birds, equipped with a beak capable of decimating a Brazil nut at one bite, and have a tendency to be ‘one-man’ pets as jealous of their owners affection as any dog. They may well, therefore, be better suited to the solo pet owner than as the family pets of a household with inquisitive and therefore potentially vulnerable small children. The foreign finches have brilliant colored plumage that would brighten the décor of any room and be an eye-catching attraction in a garden aviary. Given the right conditions the jolly little Zebras or Java sparrows will breed almost the calendar around. However, they will, like all well-loved livestock, learn to recognize the hand that feeds them and indeed the hour of the day at which dinner arrives, it is only very rarely that a finch can be taught to perform a trick, or make a more complex response to its owner.

The budgie is both acrobat and clown. Given the correct early training, he can master as many as a dozen simple phrases of human speech, and will readily become ‘finger-tame’. Thanks to selective breeding, the range of color available in present day budgerigars runs to over 130 permutations and variations on green, blue, yellow, violet, grey and white. Budgies are hardly enough to survive outdoors the year around. Some have even been noted to enjoy rolling in the snow which lined the floor of their aviaries.

They are, however, equally happy as indoor pets caged individually. However if a budgie is to be happy as a solo pet it will need the regular affection of its master or mistress and will visibly sulk, even pine, if it feels itself to be neglected. A colony of budgies look attractive as part of a garden scheme, but especially in the breeding season they can have strident screaming calls which could well annoy sensitive neighbors if the aviary is sited too near a boundary wall.

The canary on the other hand is sweet singer but some-what less hardy and certainly more tricky to breed. It is susceptible to draughts, and fall immediate victim to a gas leak. Canaries have for a number of years been unfashionable pets, but are gradually gaining ground again, principally through the introduction of the striking new color canaries such as the red factors which range in tone from blush pink through apricot tones to almost flame color. The strength of the canary-breeding fraternity has been for nearly a century among the artisan classes and this has tended to give the bird itself a lower social status.

Read more »

Why A Pet Bird?

For the would-be pet owner, birds have many advantages over other types of domestic livestock. They are inexpensive to acquire and comparatively undemanding of their owner attention.  With rare exceptions a few pounds a year will be quite sufficient to meet all the needs of a pet bird – seed and/or fruit and live food, sand, grit, cuttlefish and green food.

Birds do not need to be taken for daily walks, nor does their courtship behavior keep the neighbors awake at a night.  The majority of the species mentioned in this book will breed freely and easily in captivity. But for those whose space limitations demand a controlled pet population, it is worth noting that bird caged singly seems to thrive as happily as those who have access to mates. A bird cage takes up a very little space in the living room. A cage 18 inches long by 12 inches wide will suffice for most of the smaller species. Provided a cleaning routine (which takes only second day) is instituted, cages birds need never smell, and are very rarely ‘vicious’  with either their owners or strangers.

Pet birds are ideal beginners pets for children, but are equally suitable for elderly folk. They can be wonderful companions for invalids.  The psychological therapy of being allowed to keep a pet bird in their cell has been the start of many a hardened criminal’s resolve to ‘go straight’. Keeping pet birds is a hobby which cuts across all ages and social barriers.  Pop stars and prime ministers, royalty and rogues, as well as a host of ordinary folk, have taken pleasure in this ever fascinating hobby.

Read more »