Pet Budgerigar

COMMON NAME:Budgerigar

SCIENTIFIC NAME:Melopsittacus undulatus

DISTRIBUTION: Australia,principally east of Perth,western New South Wales andalong the Murray River

HABITAT: Inland grassplains

ADULT SIZE: 20 cm (8 in)

GENERAL: Budgerigars were firstbrought to Europe about 150years ago, and since then havebecome ever more popular. Inthe wild they are green andsmaller than domestic birds, but in captivity all sorts of colourforms have been developed by breeders. Those that one finds inpet shops are frequently the rejects from a show stud, which is notto say there is anything wrong with them - they simply do notconform to show standards. Budgies do sometimes contract adisease known as scaly face which is highly infectious, so that onceit appears in an aviary it can infect a complete flock. So if you seea budgie you like but it looks a bit scabby around the eyes orbeak, leave it strictly alone and go somewhere else for your bird,even if the proprietor tells you that it is a special breed.
The bare skin above the beak is known as the cere, and incocks it is blue, brown in hens, but in young birds it is sometimesdifficult to tell what colour it is going to turn into, so just use yourjudgement if you see a bird you fancy. If you want a single petbudgie, always buy a youngster. Baby budgies are called 'barheads'as the feathering above the cere shows lots of fine bars of darkcolouring. An adult on the other hand has perfectly clear feather-ing with no sign of these markings.

Budgerigars are gregarious and are only happy with lots offriends and relatives around them, so if you are going to keep asingle bird you must be prepared to be a flock of budgies toprovide the companionship your bird needs. Which brings us totalking birds. Good talking budgies are uncommon. Get a young-ster - some people say that cocks learn to talk better than hens but this is not true. Then tame your bird so that it is completely relaxed with you and make sure it cannot hear other birds. Once you have got tothis stage you are halfway there - the rest is just patiently repeat-ing a very simple, single phrase over and over till you get results,which can be rewarded with little treats and stroking, but finally,when a bird can speak, do not imagine that it will necessarily doso on command. Do not keep budgies with other birds - they canbe aggressive.

FOOD: Budgerigars require a commercial Budgerigar Mixture ofassorted millets and canary seed together with millet sprays. Goodmineral grit is also essential, plus cuttlefish bone and a constantsupply of fresh, clean water.

Soaked seed is an excellent addition to the diet, and when youcan get hold of it greenfood and seeding grasses will be welcomed.One of the commercial vitamin mixtures should be givenregularly, and when Budgerigars are breeding, some fancierssupply them with little cubes of wholemeal bread soaked in milkwith glucose sprinkled on top. It is not however, a good idea togive this to a single bird in a small cage as it is fattening. SomeBudgerigars will take bits of fruit such as apple, tomato or grapebut others refuse to touch such goodies.

If you put many treats in an aviary a bird will pick and choose the different items avail-able to it and use up a lot of energy flying around, but sitting byitself next to the television it will get bored and might very wellstuff itself silly on a particular item; so, if you are keeping a singlebird, only give it a little greenfood or fruit. You are not being kindby giving it treats like this: it can be cruel and result in intestinaldisorders. The majority of the diet must be the seed: do notchange the brand of seed mixture.

Whenever you re-fill a seed pot always gently blow away theempty husks on the top before you add more food. From adistance the pot may look full of seed until the husks are removed.

HOUSING: An aviary is ideal, otherwise as large a box cage aspossible. Do not use conventional wire budgie cages: they let indraughts and do not provide any security for the bird. Replacedowel perches with lengths of natural, fruit-tree wood - washedwell to remove any pollution. If you can, let the bird out of thecage each day - it will get more exercise. But each time, makesure that all doors, windows and fireplaces are covered and thatthere are no predators in the room. Do not force him out of hiscage and he will return when he wants, if you leave the door open.Budgies are very fond of bathing and in an aviary you willnaturally supply a shallow pond of some sort for them which musthave a textured bottom and a slope at one end so that a water-logged bird can walk from the water. If a budgie is to be kept in acage, the best way of letting it bathe is to invest in a plasticenclosed bath that clips onto the door frame when it is open. Thebirds do fling water about with abandon, however, so make surethe cage is not near your television set.

BREEDING: Budgerigar breeding is a fine art and each year manybreeders go to considerable lengths to breed especially find birds,most of which are bred from a single pair in one of a number ofcages in a birdroom. Only in this way can one be sure that yourbirds will breed true.

Nest boxes should be placed high up and out of the way, and inan aviary there should be more nest boxes than hens so that thereis no squabbling over sites. If you happen to have a bad naturedhen in an aviary, take her out or she will make life really difficultfor everyone else.

Birds should not be allowed to breed till they are at least eightmonths olds, and though they will breed for most of the year, it isbest to start the season about the beginning of March and removethe nest boxes again in August. A hen will usually begin to sit aftershe has laid two eggs, and as a result the chicks will hatch out atintervals. During incubation (18 days) the cock will feed his mate.The chicks will remain in the nest for about a month before theyfly after which the cock will care for them while the hen will startto lay a second clutch of eggs.

Not infrequently a hen kept on its own in a cage will lay an egg.This will be infertile and will never hatch, even if you keep it in theairing cupboard.