Kalahari
12-20-2006, 10:41 PM
Title of Article: Outside the Cage
Date Written: december 19, 2006
Author: Kalahari
Article: We all know the budgerigars as beloved companion birds, with beautiful feathers. But it's completly different in their native homelands of Australia. With no loving caretakers to feed and water them, and no avian vet to treat them, how do these little parrots survive?
While your budgies probobly live in a cage or avairy, the wild ones live in the mainland of Australia, except in the far southwest, and the north of Northern Territory. They aer usually in open habitats, but always nearby a water source
In the wild, they are primarily green. If another color appeared, such as a lutino, it would be snatched up by predators quickly. But why? After all, being in the huge flocks can't really make them hard to find. So what does the green do? The same thing black and white does on a zebra! It makes it much harder to choose a target. If a bright yellow lutino would be in the flock, it would be easy to spot and catch.
They are similiarly sized and formed to our birds, with the exception of the English Budgie, which has a larger forehead, and is bigger.
They are most active during the morning and afternoon. Then they search for food. Grass seeds, weed seeds, ripening wheat, are all on the menu for these birds.
They fly in large flocks, with more than 100 individauls in one! They are extremely nomadic. These flights are very organized, although they may seem erratic!
The budgerigar has Least Concern conservation status. It is not threatened by illegal imports, because Australia banned exporting it's birds. And there are many unique variations out there, that green budgies are not as likley to be sold as much as the mutations.
Links/Pictures/Other:
http://freespace.virgin.net/cobber.budgies/wildphoto.html
http://freespace.virgin.net/cobber.budgies/littlebud.html
Date Written: december 19, 2006
Author: Kalahari
Article: We all know the budgerigars as beloved companion birds, with beautiful feathers. But it's completly different in their native homelands of Australia. With no loving caretakers to feed and water them, and no avian vet to treat them, how do these little parrots survive?
While your budgies probobly live in a cage or avairy, the wild ones live in the mainland of Australia, except in the far southwest, and the north of Northern Territory. They aer usually in open habitats, but always nearby a water source
In the wild, they are primarily green. If another color appeared, such as a lutino, it would be snatched up by predators quickly. But why? After all, being in the huge flocks can't really make them hard to find. So what does the green do? The same thing black and white does on a zebra! It makes it much harder to choose a target. If a bright yellow lutino would be in the flock, it would be easy to spot and catch.
They are similiarly sized and formed to our birds, with the exception of the English Budgie, which has a larger forehead, and is bigger.
They are most active during the morning and afternoon. Then they search for food. Grass seeds, weed seeds, ripening wheat, are all on the menu for these birds.
They fly in large flocks, with more than 100 individauls in one! They are extremely nomadic. These flights are very organized, although they may seem erratic!
The budgerigar has Least Concern conservation status. It is not threatened by illegal imports, because Australia banned exporting it's birds. And there are many unique variations out there, that green budgies are not as likley to be sold as much as the mutations.
Links/Pictures/Other:
http://freespace.virgin.net/cobber.budgies/wildphoto.html
http://freespace.virgin.net/cobber.budgies/littlebud.html