The Budgerigar in Captivity - Housing, Feeding, Breeding, Colour Production, Exhibition and Teaching to Talk

By Denys Weston

This antique text contains a detailed handbook pertaining to the proper care and management of budgerigars in captivity, including information on housing, diet, breeding, colour production, and training. A great guide for both prospective and existing budgerigar keepers, this text contains everything one might need to know. This handbook is concise yet detailed, making it a great quick reference guide for those with queries. The chapters contained herein include: 'Description of the Wild Budgerigar', 'Housing', 'Feeding', 'Breeding', 'The Moult', 'Colour Varieties', 'Colour Production', 'Diseases', 'Exhibition', 'Education of the Budgerigar', 'Bird Pests', and 'The Standard Budgerigar Show Cage - Photography and Description'. This text has been chosen for modern republication because of its educational value, and is proudly republished here complete with a new introduction on aviculture.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Read Books Ltd.
• Release date: Aug 26, 2016
• ISBN: 9781473355866

Book preview

CHAPTER I

DESCRIPTION OF THE WILD BUDGERIGAR

I DO not propose, in the space at my disposal, to describe fully the habits and haunts of my subject, as these have been ably discussed by previous writers, and they are of little interest to my readers who intend to keep these birds in captivity.

Neither shall I enter into a controversy upon the correct name of the Budgerigar, or the different pseudonyms under which the bird has been known. A description of the habits which suggest a line of treatment for birds in artificial conditions is, however, necessary.

The wild green Budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus) is a native of Australia, and inhabits the salt bush flats and feeds upon seeding grasses, covering great distances in search of food and water. The birds nest during the Australian summer in hollows scraped in the Eucalypti or white gum trees, at varying heights. No nesting material is used.

Two clutches of three or four white eggs are laid on alternate days, incubation taking about seventeen days, and the young remain in the nest about thirty-one days.

In habits the Budgerigar is company-loving, migratory and possessed of all the parrot’s talent for imitation.

Colour and Markings: The Light Green

The length of a Budgerigar is about 9 1/2 inches: weight 1 1/2 oz. In the Green variety the forehead and crown of the head are bright yellow: back of head, cheeks and wing coverts greyish yellow barred with black, and the shoulder feathers are tinted with emerald green. The chin and throat are bright yellow ; a necklace of black circular spots encircles the throat, the uppermost spot being partly obscured each side by oblique patches of dark ultramarine blue. The chest, under-parts, thighs and under tail coverts are brilliant grass green, the back and upper tail coverts being of a darker bluish green shade. The primaries are deep grey, tipped with yellow with a greenish outer web ; the two middle tail feathers are deep prussian blue, the remainder bright yellow tipped with peacock green, the borders of the outer web being washed with pale green. Feet are pinkish grey ; beak pale yellow.

History is rather vague as to when our pets were first exported or kept successfully in captivity, but there is evidence that they have been known and admired for nearly a century.

The other colour varieties will be described in a separate chapter.

Distinguishing the Sexes

Cock Budgerigars are distinguished, when adult, by the wattle, a fleshy substance above the beak, this being a strong purple-blue, whereas in the hen it varies from a pale blue through light chestnut to deep brown. It is probable that most hens are at their all-round best when the wattle is of a rich chestnut hue and fairly smooth. Young birds are somewhat harder to sex, the wattle appearing pale blue in both cocks and hens. Whilst early hatched babies soon develop sex characteristics, it is often months before late hatched birds are sexable. Close inspection of young birds will often reveal a warm blue tint just round the nostrils of a cock, whilst the hen shows a very pale buff shade, the nostrils being white.

A specialist club was formed in 1925, through the energies of the late Mr. F. C. Longlands and others, and is known as the Budgerigar Society. Besides establishing an Exhibition Standard it has appointed qualified Judges, published literature, and done much to increase interest in this popular bird.

In recent years, a number of specialist societies catering for Budgerigar fanciers in specified areas have been formed. These are affiliated to the Budgerigar Society. Then again every Cage Bird Society sets out to cater for the growing number of Budgie enthusiasts amongst its members. All lovers of the Budgerigar should join their local Society. In addition to an annual Exhibition, where much can be learned from studying the exhibits, one meets other Fanciers who are usually anxious to pass on their knowledge. Experiences can be compared and arrangements be made to visit one another’s aviaries or bird rooms.

The interest in the subject of this book has not been ephemeral, and the Budgerigar now rivals the ever-popular Canary. I propose, therefore, in the following chapters, to tell you how to keep, breed, exhibit and tame this popular variety of