Cart Is Empty

parrot-social


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

 


BACK TO LETTERS PAGE

Newsletter

Our Address

Parrots magazine is published by
Imax Visual Ltd, West Building,
Elm Grove Lane, Steyning BN44 3SA

Telephone +44 (0)1273 464777
© Parrots magazine 2023