Dear Parrots magazine,
Budgies as companions – overlooked and underestimated
I agree wholeheartedly with EB Cravens who wrote (June issue) that the Budgerigar should not be overlooked when choosing a small parrot as a companion. In my opinion there are few more charming, intelligent and amusing little birds. I refer to the slim wild-type birds, not the misshapen specimens produced for exhibition. He wrote: “I have a soft spot for the electric green ones akin to the wild budgerigar in Australia’s rugged outback. Like the difficult-to-find-in-captivity pure normal grey cockatiel, they are in my eyes the perfect combination of natural plumage hues.”
Absolutely right! My very first bird, in 1954, was a male Budgerigar of the wild type and colour. What a good choice I made! And this bird set me on my lifetime’s path of keeping and breeding parrots. I think that the Budgerigar is actually a bird for the connoisseur and should not, as he said, be considered one for the beginner only.
By the way, the photo on page 13 of that article shows a young Stanley or Western Rosella, not a Bourke’s Parakeet.
Solly Stollenmaier contributed an excellent article on biting in parrots, with mention of cage territoriality. Even a parrot which is normally gentle and friendly will bite a finger that is pushed through its cage. I have noticed how the first thing many visitors do when they walk into a room with a parrot is to stick a finger into its cage. Please don’t do that!.
Rosemary Low, by email