Читать книгу Birds For Dummies - Gina Spadafori - Страница 42

When budgies were discovered by Europeans in Australia in the mid-1800s, they created quite a stir back home in Europe. They had everything going for them — bright color, an affectionate nature, and a real facility for talking. These same traits make this awesome little bird the world’s most popular today. You just can’t top a nice budgie — they have it all!

In some ways, the popularity and availability of budgies has led many people to dismiss them, more so in recent years. Too common, too cheap, too ordinary, these lovely pets are too often considered just a “starter” bird, especially for children. And that idea opens the doors to mass breeding to fill public demand for low-cost sources of budgerigars, which further reinforces any perception of the budgie as a “throwaway pet.” What a waste!

Budgies (shown in Figure 2-2) are remarkable pets, for children, adults, beginners, and experienced bird lovers alike.

Photograph courtesy of Claudia Hunka, Your Basic Bird (Berkeley, California)

FIGURE 2-2: Budgies are often dismissed as common, but they’re fun-loving, beautiful, and smart.

Budgies come in many colors and patterns and two basic body types. The American style of budgie is slender and long, whereas the English budgie is husky, with an almost bulldog look. Their personalities are the same, though, so color or body type is strictly a matter of personal preference.

These versatile birds are suitable for any living situation. Prices range from under $20 for what are typically mass-produced birds to around $100 for more unusual colors in hand-raised birds. You can probably find a hand-raised American type for around $40, and we say that’s a good deal. Although eight years is the common forecast on life span, a well-cared-for budgie can make it well into the teens and beyond.

To make sure you have the best experience with a budgie as a pet, skip the under-$20 mass-produced specimens (which are often a bit of a gamble because of uncertain health, background, and pet potential) and search out a hand-raised baby. A hand-raised little budgie who is really well socialized, already eating a good diet, and shows interest in interacting with you can carry you a long way! Parent-raised birds can be fine as hands-off cage or aviary pets, but we think you can enjoy the greatest rewards from your relationship if you choose a bird you can become friends with.

A talking budgie has the charm to make a statue break out in a smile. If you listen carefully, you may figure out why we think these little guys are equipped to give the better-known big-parrot talkers a run for their money! Their lispy little high-pitched voices are adorable! Some are incredibly good talkers, learning 300 or more words or phrases. A budgie named Puck, from Petaluma, California, holds the record for largest avian vocabulary, according to Guinness World Records, which documented his knowledge of 1,728 words. We think that tiny hand-raised budgie you can carry around in your shirt pocket is worth his weight in gold!