Michael Story, age 12, of Sioux City, Ia.,
What is a budgerigar?
His name may be spelled budgerigar, budgereegah or budgerygah
which, goodness knows is confusing, especially when the owner of the name is a little house pet no bigger than a sparrow. To simplify matters, we call the sweet little cutie a budgie. In his native Australia, where he runs wild, he is also called a grass parakeet or a zebra parakeet. He is a true parakeet, a small sized member of the family of large parrots and cockatoos.
In character and appearance, the budgie is very like a wide assortment of parakeets from various parts of the world. There are now about twenty million of these feathered darlings adorning little cages in American homes. A t one time they were all called parakeets or, because they are so affectionate, love birds. But when we adopted the little Australian parakeet, his name came with him. Few people can tell one kind of parakeet from another and nowadays any of them may be called budgies. In the past twenty years, we have gained a new bird and new word.
In the wild state in Austrailia, the budgerigar is a greenish bird. His back is dark green speckled with small crescents of black or dark brown. His undersides and tail are bright green. Two tail feathers and a patch on each small cheek are brilliant blue. He gets the name zebra parakeet from his stripy beck and the name grass parakeet probably because he is grass green and spends a lot of time in the tall grasses.
At first, all the budgies sold as cage birds looked like their wild relatives which, goodness knows, was handsome enough. But bird breeders decided to improve on their natural beauty. Nowadays, budgies come in delicate blues and milky whites.
Whatever his color, a budgie makes a wonderful pet. He looks like a bright piece of jewelry, besides which he is affectionate and smart enough to learn tricks.
And, of course, like most of the parrot family, he is a great imitator and able to repeat a few words. Before you teach a budgie tricks, however, you must know all about his care his cleanliness and diet. Remember, he is a capture and he cannot keep his little world tidy as he would in the wild. Clean his cage every day. Spray it and him with proper parakeet insecticide. Every day give him a dish of clean water with the chill off it.
His main diet is seeds. You can buy them in packages, but make sure they are fresh and do not smell musty, To keep healthy, he must also sample a lot of other foods. He needs a very little fruit once in a while. Give him an occasional nibble of fresh lettuce which has been warmed in tepid water. He also likes a little hard boiled egg yolk and once in a while give him wheat germ moistened with a drop or two of cod liver oil: Be sure there is a cuttlebone in his cage, for he likes to exercise his tough little beak. With proper care, your budgie may reach the ripe old age of ten and you can teach him a whole bag of tricks.