Budgerigar - Most Underrated Parrot/Parakeet

[Michael]

Budgerigar - Most Underrated Parrot/Parakeet

A tribute to budgies and their value as companion parrots. This article shares some photos and videos of when I had Duke. I get tons and tons of questions about Budgies and am always appalled to see how much they are under valued.

Please share the facebook version of this with friends to remind them that budgies are legitimate parrots as well!

[laducockatiel]

Spot on its really true, budgies are underrated so much but they are very intelligent birds!

[Khadija]

I have two Budgies, one Cockatiel, one Peach Faced Lovebird and one Black Capped Conure. My Budgies hold their own in the flock and are very precious and entertaining. Each of these species has different characteristics which makes our little flock quite a lot of fun. One thing I discovered though is that when I only had one Budgie he was always trying to befriend the other guys which they didn't want. Johnny wasn't truly happy until he had a Budgie friend, so I got him Buddy. My other guys don't seem to need a cage companion as they prefer me. Yet Johnny still likes to be with me even though he now has Buddy. The Budgies are in a large flight cage and love it, but they get to roam the house with supervision every day as do the other guys.
I am so glad you discussed this problem of the Budgie industry and inadequately trained backyard breeders, because as you mention too many people think because they are little and cheap they don't need to be respected. When I tried to look for a Budgie to get as a friend for Johnny, I searched our local Parrot rescue, Craigs List and want ads hoping to rescue one who needed to be re-homed, but no Budgie was available at any age! I then bought a baby from a clean, well organized small local pet shop, but no one asked me any questions or wanted to know if I knew what to do or feed etc. It's so sad that because they are so small and easily dominated that those that are neglected just waste away and die young in their owners cage instead of being given up to a rescue organization
But, if you own one and interact with it and meet its needs, you will be more than entertained and loved. My flock have a Godfather that will take them if I pass over the rainbow bridge before them. Bigger is not better....it's just different (and maybe a little more intimidating or messy depending on the circumstances).
Have a tweet day,
Khadija &
Tino
Tootie
Gertie
Johnny
Buddy

[liz]

My father had Hodgkins Liphoma. Toward the end he basically sat in his recliner and watched TV.

I bought 2 budgies. This is back in 1980 and I really did not know much about them and did not even work with them. My father talked to them all the time. They made all kinds of noises to him.
One day he was ignoring them to watch TV and one threw a sunflower seed at him. Of course that got his attention. From then on he was the goaly and they threw their hocky puck sunflower seeds at him. It always made him laugh.

[pennyandrocky]

the i had was a great companion for my who mourned when he passed.they had alot of fun flying around together i had no idea my would enjoy having another bird around until this little guy was dumped off at my house.too many times i've seen ads for people wanting to get rid of them to "upgrade"to a larger parrot.

[cml]

Very well said Michael, budgies seem to be awesome parrots ! Along with parrolets its definately a species I would consider doing a rescue of if I had the space available. Smaller parrots are worth as much as big, and deserve as much care and love.
Its very unfortunate that so many of them end up "thrown away" .

[Zooey]

Completely right. So true.
I have yelled at people who thought that budgies were 'just a parakeet'.
I told them I had budgies, and they said "What?"
"Budgie."
"What?"
"A type of parakeet."
"Oh, just a parakeet."

And that's when I start scaring them off.

I love this post, I'm sharing it with my friends.

[Perrytheparrot]

agreed

[ishael]

My first pet (when I was about 7), which was a budgie, was so attached to me I didn't really have to teach it to fly to me, if I left the room and he was out, the next thing I knew was that he was on my head or shoulder. They really are wonderfully intelligent birds, great for your money's worth, and incredibly misunderstood. There are very few animals on this planet that are 'dumb', the majority, i would say, are trainable in their own way (which doesn't mean they should/need to be trained) and very intelligent.
We tend to think of animals intelligence by their size or beauty. An African grey would get a lot of respect because they are large and striking and have a very intense way about them, but a budgie who is little and cute and charming is seen as dumb and expendable in some cases. Its the same with dog behaviour (my speciality!); we humanize the dogs that are little and cute and don't see them as dogs with dog's needs, but large dogs are mostly thought of as dogs who either, depending on the person viewing, are aggressive and smelly or beautiful and intelligent and need to be exercised, disciplined, etc. People have a very distorted way of viewing animals.

[Pricey_boy]

To a lot of people who don't know how amazing birds are all birds are underrated

A lot of people keep birds like galahs, budgies, and other small parrots for decorations