# What started your interest in birds?



## RavensGryf

Maybe you were born into a family of bird lovers. Maybe you discovered them on your own as a teen or adult? Were you completely disinterested in birds at one time? I'd love to hear how _you_ first got into birds. What started your passion with these wonderful creatures?

I had absolutely no interest in birds until one day years ago, I found the most beautiful Gouldian Finch at a pet store. That was it. My inner "bird person" had finally been awakened, and I absolutely had to have him! I initially went into the pet store after some fish food... I walked out with my first bird 'Adam' and a cage . At that point, I'm not even sure I remembered the fish food . My passion for finches grew, and I eventually got into parrots as well.

Looking back, it was hard to believe that I was to eventually become a "bird person" . My aunt gave my dad a cockatiel when I was a kid, and I might have glanced at it once or twice. Friends had parrots, but I didn't care. I once even dated someone with a large macaw, and I think I said something like "oh, you have a bird." I couldn't have cared less. :laughing2:


----------



## despoinaki

Nice thread!  When I was 10, my dad brought a finch in our home. He was so friendly! When we used to sit around him, I think it was his favourite! He never stopped singing!  We kept him for 3-4 years I think. Then we had some canaries, but they were never so friendly as he was. 
Many years later, our local breeder and friend gave us a budgie as a present. She was remarkable!  And I think she was one of the best bird-friends I ever had!  here's her story; http://talkbudgies.com/budgie-pictures/133618-my-first-budgie-princess.html


----------



## Kaa

I always had budgies when I was a kid and had an auntie who was a breeder eded them in can remember 1 yellow budgie called whiskey, one blue and white called Peter (blue peter) then a green and yellow called charley, then due to tragic circumstances (lost my dad age 12) my family moved in with another family to try and regain normality. They had a cat that Was a real outdoor Tom cat. We gave Charley to a friend who gave him a great new home.

10 years later I have bought my 1st home and living on my own. So it started again with Ash continues with Jay

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk


----------



## Therm

Kaa, Peter for a blue budgie is my favourite! 

My Dad had an aviary when I was about 11 I think. He bred budgies, canaries and zebra finches for quite a few years. We had to move and the birds were sold to another breeder. 
During the time we have the aviary I had a pet budgie that my Nan and Grandad could no longer keep, called Spike, but he was very old and didn't last very long. 
I kept some of the baby budgies as pets for a while after they were weaned but they went back to the aviary once they were mature. There were four of them and we named them Twinkle, Joseph, Arthur and Babe. Twinkle ended up Winkle as it was a boy and Joseph a Josephine. 
I didn't have a pet bird for a short time before we ended up getting a cockatiel I named Sid. She was lovely and moved with us from Kent to Lincoln. 
Eventually, my brother took Sid (my to brothers kept stealing all our pets when they'd come to visit. We moved up here with 4 cats and a tiel and they took all of them over time!). 

After that we had Holly the dog for 10 years and no birds but I saw some doves in a pet shop on holiday one year and I was smitten and my love for birds was reawakened. 
Then, last July I decided I would like a bird back in my life.


----------



## petites

I don't know _why_ we got the first budgie, Jimmie. when I was 11. I just remember walking to a pet shop with my Mum and leaving with a budgie in a cage. I suspect Mum really wanted one as she was marvellous with him, endless patience. He lived for 11 years :w00t: and the day he died he came to see each of us in turn for a cuddle  as if he was saying 'goodbye'.
I was smitten and had budgies through the years, but it is very recently that I have gotten into them in a BIG way, breeding and training.
I don't think I could live without a bird in my life anymore


----------



## SouthernFried

As a kid I always wanted a bird. I knew nothing about bird ownership, but had some underlying desire to have one. My parents absolutely refused to let me have one even through my teen years. I eventually gave up on the whole idea of a pet bird. 
After I'd been married a few years the idea was reawakened when I went in to PetSmart to buy dog food. I came home did my research (which meant snooping around TB for months) and then introduced the desire to my husband. He was reluctant. Then Disney's Rio came out and since we had two little girls we all watched it constantly and he agreed I could get a bird. :biggrin1: The rest is history. I'll probably never not have a budgie in my life now. My husband isn't a pet person and definitely not a bird person. I told him just the other day I would probably always have budgies for the rest of my life and he rolled his eyes.


----------



## petites

Eeek I am so out of touch with Disney that I hadn't even heard of Rio :S.Now. of course I _have_ to download it  Thanks Tiffanie


----------



## SouthernFried

petites said:


> Eeek I am so out of touch with Disney that I hadn't even heard of Rio :S.Now. of course I _have_ to download it  Thanks Tiffanie


You're very welcome! I'm glad I could contribute to your bird passion.


----------



## pedrovicentebp

to me always liked the animals and nature so when i was a child of 5 it was pretty common to me to have a pet i haved a dog a fish and my grandma and my grandma have a lot of animals so there is where it comes my love to nature and animals 

so when i found to zeus(my budgie) on my backyard window i grip him and i put him into a big box
then i researched if it was a cage bird because to that moment i dont knew to much about birds then i convinced my mom to let me kept the budgie 

since i began to research about budgies i noticed that they are beatiful and awesome birds so now i am trying to give him a good life and i bought him a female hera another beautiful budgie

and i am doing a playground in my room because i began to tame them for let them free some hours in the day in my room :blue throat:


----------



## Birdbaby

I've always been obsessed with birds. My mom let me have a budgie when I was like 12. She was all yellow and I named her Jenga. Unfortunately she died while I was away a girl scout camp. I was devastated.

I also have 2 quarter sleeve tattoos and they are both of birds. My right arm is a sparrow which is my idea of a "self portrait". My right arm has 3 females and one male cardinal. This is my idea of my family.

Fast forward, I wanted birds. Any, all.... But we rented and I knew it was not ideal in our cramped 2 bedroom apartment with 4 humans, 2 fish tanks and 2 dogs to get birds. Well we bought a house in April and by the end of May I had my birds LOL! I have my own office at our new house and that's where we (my birds and I) spend most of our time. I do have to leave my "cage" sometimes to join the "real" world. But I spend as much time in there with them around me as I possibly can. I love them! I would LOVE a bigger bird as well in the future but we shall see....

Edited to add: This http://talkbudgies.com/other-birds/339106-those-considering-larger-bird.html# is why I'm hesitant on a big bird. Even while my heart aches for one.


----------



## Cody

I had budgies as a kid. I remember 5 different ones that I had, but not all at the same time. Two of them my dad found outside and took them in. Then at one point I found a stray kitten and brought it home, my parents let me keep it but said the budgie had to go to live with my grandmother. Fast forward to adulthood, I had 13 cats at one point, I was volunteering with a rescue group and just sort of acquired them, they were a lot of work and expense so I did not have any birds at that time but always wanted to have them back in my life. Then about 13 years ago I took in a baby sparrow that I found on a very hot summer day on the ground in a shopping mall parking lot, that got me back into having birds, I had her for 11 years and now down to 2 cats. Then 4 years ago there was a terrible animal hoarding situation here and over 300 birds had to be removed from a house, after vet checks and quarantine period they were up for adoption, I adopted 4 and continue to do so.:001_rolleyes:


----------



## StarlingWings

This thread is fantastic, Julie 

I must say that I'm a bit like Tiffanie as to how I got into birds.

To be honest, I was born with this innate desire to own a bird. By the time I could talk, I was saying things like "Birdy" and "Parrot" and would insist on stopping at all pet stores to gaze, awestruck, at the birds. I especially loved the big parrots when I was little, and was fascinated by their bright colours and very smart personalities. By the time I was in elementary school, though, I slowly started learning more and more about cats, and finally convinced my family to adopt a beautiful tabby girl named Simba.

She was with us for 5 years before we had to give her up due to unforeseen allergies from my father and of course, I was devastated. Now that there wasn't a cat in the house, I would see birds and immediately start thinking of how much I loved birds when I was younger, and began researching extensively.

Like Therm with the doves, my first love that renewed my interest in birds was after walking into a pet store and seeing a beautiful little Sun Conure. He was so inquisitive and full of personality I immediately wanted him. Of course, I wanted $500 to be able to buy him, too  :wof: I researched for almost a year on any and all types of parrots, considered the facts, and settled on budgies, who were small and sweet. Following were five or six more months of research and then on January 12, 2012, I brought home Mallorn, and she's been with me ever since! 

Now, of course, I no longer love birds. In fact, I'm _obsessed_ with them. It's not only parrots, I know a lot about other species, just because. I don't think I'm ever going to have a cat or a dog, not because I don't like them, but because birds are all I need in life. 

I can't imagine not having a little feathered friend! :galah:


----------



## aluz

For as long I can remember, I have always been drawn to animals. 
I was told that as a toddler I would naturally follow my cousin's dog to pet him, I would choose the little animals over people. 
At ages 3 and 4, one of my favourite activities when I was at my grandparents' house was to feed the chickens and just watch them go about their lives. 
By that age I was already asking for my own pet and at age 5 my father got my first pair of budgies. From the moment I first laid eyes on my two budgie girls, I was totally surrendered to their charms and almost 30 years later the feeling remains unchanged. I am proud bird owner for life, there's no way around it.


----------



## immorgan

My family jokes about not letting me in a pet store because it's guaranteed I'll leave with an animal of some sort. I've had dogs, cats, gerbils, snakes, geckos, turtles, fish and birds my whole life (not all at the same time, of course )
I absolutely can't resist the sad eyes of any animal in a cage at a pet store, and it turns out I'm quite the sucker for baby budgie eyes! We had one while I was quite a bit younger, but he unfortunately passed away while we were on vacation. Stormy is my second but definitely not my last!
I don't think I'll ever live a day of my life without at least one pet


----------



## RavensGryf

Everyone's replies have been very interesting, thank you ! Keep them coming!

As a bird person, I kind of 'stumbled' upon budgies by accident. In the beginning I went from finches (early 90's), to smallish-medium parrots by mid 90's, and medium-large parrots by mid 2000's. I'm very happy to say my first little parrot Robin is still going strong at almost 22 years old! But it was just in 2012 that I had 'caught the bug' for budgies! They were never a species that I was interested in. I went from finches to parrots and bypassed the budgies lol.

Well, needless to say, I am so glad that fate had it that I was to go into a pet store on my lunch break that day in 2012. I saw Twigs, who was the prettiest budgie that I had ever seen (up to that point). Yellow and blue recessive pied, He caught my eye and I HAD TO have him. I went home and told Don I HAD TO have him, just one more bird lol. He and I went back to the store the next evening after some thought and discussion (so I wasn't "extremely" impulsive ), and I got Twigs and Don got a white/mauve recessive pied he named Pix. Unfortunately due to genetic weakness as determined by 2 avian vets, Pix only lived 2 years and Twigs I lost a couple months ago at probably less than 4.

Now I have my English budgies Mink and Chip, and I am _forever_ hooked on budgies ! If I could have more birds, sweet little budgies would top the list.


----------



## Budget baby

What an awesome thread, I too have always had an affinity with all animals. From an early age I was attracted to any fur, feathered, skin or shell I have had them all.
My grandfather bred Pugs, German Shepherds and many species of birds how I enjoyed staying with them:Love birds:
Then I got my own pets as I got older, stray dogs followed me home on numorous occasions to be given a forever home. Kangaroo's, turtles, ducks, goats , lambs, I even had a small pet monkey as a child, which I still carry the scar from on my forehead where he bit me .
So to birds, I worked with a lady who had German warbler Canaries she offered me a few and some finches, of course a small aviary was built and they cam e with me.
As They were outside they did not become tame so to say but many a day I would sit near the cage and marvel at the songs and antics displayed. Sadly I had to leave them when I divorced my husband. I was bird less for a long time until my stepson's girlfriend of the time decided to buy me two Budgies in a cage a Birthday Present, Budget's Father was one of these.
I immediately bought an outside aviary so they could be able to fly around. Not knowing I also placed a nest box inside thinking it the right thing to do, also added to the flock........
Then my problems began thankfully I found TB, they have enlightened me and through the help and advice we now own three inside budgies with Budget my Boy, being the apple of both my husband and my self's eye.
I have become known at work as the crazy bird lady, a moniker I am proud to wear. :Love birds::blue throat:


----------



## karkarkar

I agree  this thread is awesome.
as a child I didn't care for birds at all. at the zoo, at the special birs zoo's that me and my family visited I was always bored by the "bird area". I was like "meh. birds. what's so interesting about them? they fly and make noise. wow"
lol
oh I was also disgusted by pigeons and they made me sick, today I look at them and think "awwwwww"
I was totally a cat person. but never had pets really...
Then one day we went to my dad's friend and he has 2 budgies , so I said half joking half not "I want budgies too !" they were kind cute
so the next week my dad said "well you wanted birds no? so lets go !"
and we bought Rocky and ms marple from a pet store ^^"
from there...I AM IN LOVE with budgie, and other birds are nice too but especially budgies.
I just love all about those little puffy creatures ♥♥♥


----------



## RavensGryf

That's funny Karina... how some people like you and I could have cared less about birds until one day something just clicked!


----------



## Greyjoy

I have always appreciated the grace & beauty of birds but was really looking forward to the day I could have a dog. Instead I got a boyfriend who wanted a pet free household. The bird was a compromise, in fact I was surprised when he suggested it. I am in no way vilifying my boyfriend, he had valid reasons for not wanting pets but I wasn't really wild about some of my options. I almost talked myself into getting a pair of guinea pigs but I'm so glad I got budgies instead.


----------



## CaptainHowdy

My parents had always had birds when they were younger but when i was a kid we had the usual cats rabbits hamsters guinea pigs etc.

Fast forward a bit. My brother had finches and my dad had birds. I got interested when we got the chickens (had my own day old chicks bought me  ). 
Then one day my dad asked me if i wanted to see the budgie chicks in the aviary. Back then i couldnt have told you anything about budgies. So in i went and he placed these 5 chicks on me and one crawled up all wings flapping and nestled himself under my neck and went to sleep. I was sold! So spent a couple of years researching before i went and got my first hen a gorgeous opaline violet called Lillith.
Not long after i bred my first clutch and my first ever chick was a gorgeous violet hen name Frankie who i still have now.

Fast forward and i ended up with my own aviaries and take in rescues. Ive now got budgies, zebra finches, bengalese finches, parrotlets, bourkes parakeets, a cockatiel, a hahns macaw, a patagonian conure and 2 orange winged amazons.

And i am always taking in more when i can. Would never be without a budgie though


----------



## Birdigirl

I love this thread and all the stories about how you all fell in love with birds. For me, as s child, they fascinated me and I would watch the wild birds through the window and long for one as a pet. I was about 2 at that stage and I dont much remember it but the story was retold to me by my mom several times 
It seems I persecuted her for a pet bird and she told me I could have one as a pet to keep if I managed to put a grain of salt on its tail. It seems I was thrilled at the prospect of having my very own bird and I went missing leaving home with the salt celler firmly held in my hand. They found me a few hours later among a field of starlings who kept flying off as I ventured near them so I had failed in my quest and they brought me home scolding me for running off. Then years later my mom got a budgie but I was only allowed to look at it and wasnt allowed to interact or touch so it didnt make much of an impression on me until I was ill and it decided to draw close to me which it had never done before and I was captivated by its inteligence and its concern and interest in me. The birds that really won me over to being a birdie person though was an blind crow called Shakespesre who relied on me for everything and an injured Magpie called Maggie who though she healed quickly and returned to live in the wild she chose to come back and remain with me. She lived outside for s while but would tap the window every morning for her breakfast and then hang out with me for the day. As time went on she moved into the house at night time and had her nest where she gathered all kinds of shiny things on top of my wardrobe. I loved her. She never did mate or have babies..
Istill love crows and magpies to this day. I learned so much about birds from those two birds but it was years later and long after they had passed to rainbow bridge I got my very own first pet bird. I walked into a pet shop and the bird chose me...he was a cockatiel and though Im not what I would call a cockatiel person I loved him. Then I got zebra finches which I love to this day though I dont have any at present and then came a Conure called Roger and a stray budgie who got me into budgies who all got their names from charscters on the Waltons thr strsy was the firdt and he was called JimBob...then illness forced me to part with the budgies and the finches then I bsbysst a friends budgies Custi and Grlsto until they moved to the UK and now I have a White Fronted Amazon called Mr Biggles that I Adore and a Quaker called Peter Pan who owns the keys to my heart and of course my 4 beloved budgies Elsa Houdini Primrose and little Nellow. Houdini is my first English budgie and the inspiration to get him came from reading Julies posts about Mink and Chip but especially Chip with his fluffy feathered face (and he wont be my last)...so thats more or less the tale of my Birdie Love to date.


----------



## ButterflyLordet

Well, I went to the pet store with my dad having researched leopard geckos. There dad took me to the budgies and said "Why don't you have a budgie instead?" and there and then I bought Ollie and a cage and everything needed! She was the only animal I have ever purchased without researching first, and she is way better than any leopard gecko would have been


----------



## Kate C

Don't know how I missed this thread earlier. Anyway.

I have always loved animals in any way shape or form (except for spiders). It seems to be a trait I have inherited from my fathers side of the family. I found when doing my family tree that one of my second cousins became the first patron of a bird club I became a member of around the time I was born. When I was little my grandfather (who lived with us along with my grandmother) had a goat, a sheep and about 5,000 ducks. During this time my father also had an aviary in which he kept finches and small doves. I just loved helping him feed them. As a teenager we had chickens for egg production (about 10,000) and I had one that was a pet. My mother and grandmother had dogs when I was a baby and I had my own cat and dog when I was about 3. My dog Lollipop lived to the ripe old age of 17. When I was older and Lolly was still around we had 2 German Shepherds King and Sammy. We lost Sammy when she was about 4 as she was hit by a car, but King, more affectionately known as Boofy lived to be nearly 17, an extreme age for a Shepherd. 

I had many pet budgies and other birds during my early years but it wasn't until I got my first home that I became more serious about them. In the early 1990's I got a couple of budgies and joined a Budgie Club and started breeding and showing. One of the first budgies I bred I put into my first show and she placed 2nd in her class. Not bad when you consider that the bird that beat her won champion in the novice class in that show, so I was up against some pretty strong competition.

During that time I also got interested in larger parrots and got my first Cockatiels and joined a Parrot Club that I am still a member of. Our president at the time also hand raised parrots and I learned to hand raise from him. After more that 20 years he is still a close friend and is again the president of our Parrot club. So I started to hand raise parrots. For many years I hand raised not only my own babies but other peoples birds as well often being paid by being able to choose some of the chicks for myself. This built up my flock with some pretty good youngsters to add to my breeding and showing program. My finest achievement was winning Grand Champion Parrot in our club show against 250 other birds with an Alexandrine that I hand raised.

I still hand raise, mainly now my own birds, but will still hand raise for other people who can't do it themselves. And I have also hand raised many wild birds that were either abandoned by their parents or who have fallen out of nests and been brought to me. The love of my life is my Sulfur Crested Cockatoo female Charlie who I hand raised from 2 weeks. She is just about to turn 16 in September. I am just about to move to a new home on 1/2 an acre of land in a small country town and will be putting up a couple of standard aviaries along with some suspended aviaries and a free flight area for my lovely tame birds to play in. As the new home has a very large 5 bay garage and a carport that is not in use, I will be using the carport to convert to the free flight area using the same netting they use for the large walkthrough aviaries. I know my babies will love it.


----------



## Hollen

I love this thread! I will chime in. We are still pretty new to pet birds, but I have been crazy for wild birds since college. I went to a campus on a wildlife preserve, and at my workplace we would always start the day sitting on the porch (it was a kind of cottage / bed and breakfast), drinking coffee, talking and laughing, and watching bird feeders. It was so peaceful, and we started to see the birds had families! I love that about birds. Fast forward mumblemumbleteen years, and my husband knows we leave a few dead trees away from the house for my pileated and red bellied woodpeckers, and the only flowers that go in are for my hummies. 

We like to bird watch as a family, and Alex caught the bug pretty badly. He loves birds, and he can charm them. It's insane- I've seen wild birds follow the child. A couple years ago he wanted a pet badly, but is allergic to most fur. He asked for a budgie, and the rest is history- we are smitten! So fun to watch his growing passion- at 10 years old now he dreams of being an avian vet. Such sweet dreams!


----------



## RavensGryf

I love all of your stories . It's so interesting to hear how eveveryone came to know birds, whether born into it, or discovered them later. Also interesting what species you came to have, and why.

Mary, I'm glad Chip is responsible for giving you Budgieitis disease . I see more English budgies in your future for sure!


----------



## Kimd

When I was younger my Dad put a Cage beside our back door and brought 4 budgies to put in it. From there he started to breed budgies and in the end had two averies. Sometimes we got to hold some of the Baby Budgies with Dad watching us. Dad got into a budgie club and started to show budgies. When Dad breed budgies we also had a Pet budgie inside. All the pet budgies we had inside landed on us and snuggled into us. At times if our hair was long enough some of them would try to use our hair as a swing. In our early year we used the kitchen table to play Table Tennis and the Budgie we had at that time use to sit on us and when I went to pick the ball up the budgie had to hold on because I went down fast. When we had smokey at one stage my Mum asked me if I wanted a strawberry milkshake and Smokey said "Smokey want Strawberry milkshake". Since I have been married Sunny is my third Budgie. We also had a dog for 15 years who has passed on.


----------



## Penzance

All lovely stories! For me, Joey arrived without warning courtesy of my parents when I was 6. I was very keen, but let him out with the window open and off he went. I was distraught, but Joey no. 2 arrived home within days and I became much more careful and got him finger tame. When I was 8 suffering a long term illness, another budgie arrived to keep Joey 2 company. She was far too young to be sold, and struggled to stay on a perch with her little feet. So I looked after her and experienced my first really close bond with a budgie. That was Suzy and she lived to the ripe old age of 14, outliving several boys. She was one of the the tamest birds I have ever had, but couldn't stand anyone else except me! Suzy really started my addiction! Since then I have always kept budgies except for 3 years at university. I couldn't live without them!


----------



## Island

I love any kinda animal, especially the furry ones and feathered ones when I was a kid- ok well I still do lol  I wanted all kinds of pets but I was not allowed to have cats/dogs or bunnies -except I had a bunny for a short time and had small chickens-chicks for sometime. One day my dad showed up a little green budgie when I was 9-10 years old and I really loved this little one. Every since I had budgies growing up, until my last budgie got very sick and died on me when I started college and I cried for a week, it was a rescue from a neighbor could not take care of him and he was talking people's words and I even thought him couple more words after I adopted him. I was so sad after he passed away, I decided not to have pets ever, until I saw my Cloud in the pet shop, I could not resist. There I was back to the budgie world.


----------



## jrook

I love this thread, too.. your stories are incredible. I've always been drawn to animals of the mammal type..:biggrin1: 
I was fascinated by birds.. at a distance, mind you, but I was always a bit afraid. 
In college, I worked for a veternarian.. at that time, there were few specialty vets, so he saw everything from bison to snakes. We saw some birds which I loved them from afar, and was too afraid to approach. Horses, I loved.. Dogs, cats, too. 
Fast forward many years. As many of you know, I'm in my 60's and we are raising my nephew. He had frogs and fish (we are a multi dog household as well).. Then he got a bug for budgies. I held off as long as I could, as I knew zero about birds and really didn't want to know. Well, the rest, as they say .. is history! I've had up to 5 budgies and survived raising a completely unintended clutch (yes, Lemony's). I now have 2 budgies and a lovebird. I'm totally smitten with budgies and birds in general and can't imagine being without a bird. When I think what I've missed all this time,well... I'm glad I discovered them now. 
Though..... I have to admit, when I go to our local bird store, the really big guys like the macaws still give me a moment's pause. Last time we were there, a great big parrot was on a perch and he grabbed my spouse's baseball cap from his head...
So I continue to learn all the time. I'm so glad I found TB. I got the support I needed to give my budgies a happier and healthier life and the knowledge to get through raising those little chicks (Oscar is one of of the babies).


----------



## petites

Well Judy, they do say 'better late than never' :biggrin1:


----------



## mexicoandice

For me, it happened because I was searching for the perfect pet. It turned out the only pets that were reasonable for my situation were either turtles or birds. I instantly knew I wanted a bird. After being totally floored by the price of a bigger bird that I wanted, I realized a smaller bird would be the best choice. Enter Mexico and Ice, my beautiful budgie boys. 
Originally, not knowing about bird farms, I was going to get a single female budgie from the pet store. But Mexico and Ice were from kijiji for free. So I ended up with two males instead of one female. After that, my love for birds soared. (pun intended) 
It still makes me a little sad that someone would give living creatures away like that so easily, but I'm so glad I could give them a happy home.


----------



## petites

I had to google 'Kijiji'......:blush: I think it would make a great name for a bud


----------

