Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, December 30, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Budgerigar Totem
In modern times, some people have chosen to adopt a personal spirit animal helper, which has special meaning to them. These helpers are called totems. In Belgium, it's quite common to receive a totem when you join a Scouting group. I never did so, but if I had a totem, I think it might be a budgerigar :-)
Budgerigar - Chatterbox
Keywords that connect you to this totem:
Travelling, going where nourishment is found, following the omens and movements of birds, chatterbox, gossip, everyday beauty, great resources of inner strength, responding to colour and light therapy, words have great meaning, be careful what you say, choose words carefully.
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| Image © Ravenari |
Budgerigar - Chatterbox
Keywords that connect you to this totem:
Travelling, going where nourishment is found, following the omens and movements of birds, chatterbox, gossip, everyday beauty, great resources of inner strength, responding to colour and light therapy, words have great meaning, be careful what you say, choose words carefully.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
I almost wish I was one of them
They look so warm and cozy! I'm freezing my ass off here in the living room! :d
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| Image © *raptiye |
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Christmas holidays 2011
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| Image © Zazzle |
It's that time of the year again! I decided to take a week off from work and enjoy some cozy time together with Erlend and our budgies. I will reappear around December 27, with new budgie facts and much more! As my heart goes out to people who show great respect for birds, I already want to wish all budgie fans a merry Christmas and a wonderful 2012! Pamper your little birdies and keep them out of the cold!
All the best,
Bika and Erlend
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Need to say more?
Budgies are always curious about something, that's one of the cutest things about them :)
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| Photo © scopezor on deviantART |
Digital drawing of a budgie
Here's a digital drawing of a blue budgie. It's so gorgeous! I wish I could draw like that...
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| Image © athenatt on deviantART |
Monday, December 12, 2011
How many budgies in one cage?
Erlend and I have been discussing this subject more than once. The measurements of our cage are: 48 x 30 x 49 cm, so there's not that much room.
Still, it's a quality cage because all the bars are horizontal (which is good for the budgies' feet) and there's more horizontal than vertical space (which is good because budgies fly horizontally, not vertically). The budgies get a few hours of free flight per day, so they mostly use the cage for sleeping and eating. I could perhaps put an extra perch in the lower part of the cage, to provide room for 1-2 more budgies.
Taking all these things into consideration, I think that our cage would hold maximum five budgerigars.
I want to give Isla the chance to breed once she's ready for it, so maybe we will need a bigger cage. But for now, let's try with the one we have.
You have to have a good look in the pet store if you want a decent cage. Avoid cages that look tall and that have a lot of vertical bars. I'm not saying that the cage in the picture above is a bad cage, but in fact, it's just as roomy as my cage, because it's the horizontal space that counts. On top of that, the vertical bars make it difficult for them to climb.
Still, it's a quality cage because all the bars are horizontal (which is good for the budgies' feet) and there's more horizontal than vertical space (which is good because budgies fly horizontally, not vertically). The budgies get a few hours of free flight per day, so they mostly use the cage for sleeping and eating. I could perhaps put an extra perch in the lower part of the cage, to provide room for 1-2 more budgies.
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| Photo © Lishea.com |
I want to give Isla the chance to breed once she's ready for it, so maybe we will need a bigger cage. But for now, let's try with the one we have.
You have to have a good look in the pet store if you want a decent cage. Avoid cages that look tall and that have a lot of vertical bars. I'm not saying that the cage in the picture above is a bad cage, but in fact, it's just as roomy as my cage, because it's the horizontal space that counts. On top of that, the vertical bars make it difficult for them to climb.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Blue budgies and Japanese cars
First recorded appearance of the blue budgerigar mutation
The blue budgerigar made its first recorded appearance in 1878. The budgerigars are said to be owned by a certain M. Limbosch in a suburb of Brussels, Belgium. Barely 3 years later, this strain died out and blue budgies seemed to have disappeared from our world. A few years later, some blue budgies occasionally occurred in Dutch aviaries. This was still a very rare thing to happen.
The first blue budgies to be seen in England were a couple exhibited by Messrs Millsum and Pauwels at the Horticultural Hall in 1910 and the Crystal Palace in 1911.
Expensive rarity
Blue budgies remained a rarity until the 1930s. People in Japan were prepared to pay £100 for blue budgies, which is about the cost of a car at that time!
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| Photo © spookybear |
The blue budgerigar made its first recorded appearance in 1878. The budgerigars are said to be owned by a certain M. Limbosch in a suburb of Brussels, Belgium. Barely 3 years later, this strain died out and blue budgies seemed to have disappeared from our world. A few years later, some blue budgies occasionally occurred in Dutch aviaries. This was still a very rare thing to happen.
The first blue budgies to be seen in England were a couple exhibited by Messrs Millsum and Pauwels at the Horticultural Hall in 1910 and the Crystal Palace in 1911.
Expensive rarity
Blue budgies remained a rarity until the 1930s. People in Japan were prepared to pay £100 for blue budgies, which is about the cost of a car at that time!
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| Photo © theresanupsideofdown |
Friday, December 9, 2011
Thursday, December 8, 2011
"Bailey"
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| Image © redbubble |
For those who like a little challenge: can you count the total number of budgies hidden here? ;)
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Old, crazy budgie advertisements
I had a look through the Advertising Archives, after I found this picture online:
I mean, that is so scary. The title "Love alone is not enough!" makes it even worse. This was French's Bird Seed Magazine Advert from 1950, shown all around the USA. I have an even older one.
This is the cover of the Saturday Evening Post Magazine from July 31, 1915. Remember that the first budgies were only bred after the 1850's, so budgerigars were still considered a bit of a "rare luxiority" in the United States. Also pay attention to the colour of the budgie. Blue budgies were still extremely rare at the end of the 19th century. What bothers me a bit here, is that people knew little to nothing about budgerigars back then and the birds were often given as a gift to girls or women, who started neglecting the birds as soon as they lost interest in them.
The last one is from the 1960s. It's an advertisement for Caperns bird seed, something well known at that time. Capern's even recorded some commercials with the famous budgerigar Sparkie Williams.
OMG, super budgie cards!
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| Photo © The Advertising Archives |
I mean, that is so scary. The title "Love alone is not enough!" makes it even worse. This was French's Bird Seed Magazine Advert from 1950, shown all around the USA. I have an even older one.
 |
| Photo © The Advertising Archives |
This is the cover of the Saturday Evening Post Magazine from July 31, 1915. Remember that the first budgies were only bred after the 1850's, so budgerigars were still considered a bit of a "rare luxiority" in the United States. Also pay attention to the colour of the budgie. Blue budgies were still extremely rare at the end of the 19th century. What bothers me a bit here, is that people knew little to nothing about budgerigars back then and the birds were often given as a gift to girls or women, who started neglecting the birds as soon as they lost interest in them.
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| Photo © The Advertising Archives |
The last one is from the 1960s. It's an advertisement for Caperns bird seed, something well known at that time. Capern's even recorded some commercials with the famous budgerigar Sparkie Williams.
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| Photo © Cold War Warrior on Flickr |
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| Photo © combomphotos on Flickr |
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
How do I get my budgie to take a bath?
Believe it or not, but some budgies just don't like to bathe as much as others. It's a matter of personal taste. Some budgies - especially the young ones from the pet stores - have never seen any other budgie doing it and they have never had the opportunity to try it out themselves. Sadly, this is the case with my Frodo and Isla.
I offered them a bath the other day, and even though they were both very curious about it, they thought it was only for drinking. They must've thought: "why on Earth don't we get a food tray of this size?"
After a while, I thought that Frodo was beginning to see the fun in it. He dipped his head in the water and shook his feathers. Then, he put a foot in there. Then, Isla came to chase him off because she wants everything that he wants. Isla only drank a bit from the water and then flew off again. So much for bathing that day.
I believe it's a matter of patience. It's not a big deal if they don't want to bathe, because budgies can still keep their feathers clean and neat when they preen. If you want to, you could try to use a soft plant spray, as long as it has never had any chemicals in it. If your budgie doesn't like it, he will try to get away and keep his wings tight over his feathers. The important thing is not to force them. If you make your budgies wet against their will too often, they may start to hate you for it.
But don't worry: it's part of their instinct to take baths. Domesticated budgies just need some time to see the use of it. So no rush. I'm just going to put the bath there again next time and maybe they will try again.
I offered them a bath the other day, and even though they were both very curious about it, they thought it was only for drinking. They must've thought: "why on Earth don't we get a food tray of this size?"
After a while, I thought that Frodo was beginning to see the fun in it. He dipped his head in the water and shook his feathers. Then, he put a foot in there. Then, Isla came to chase him off because she wants everything that he wants. Isla only drank a bit from the water and then flew off again. So much for bathing that day.
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| Image © chorp on tumblr |
I believe it's a matter of patience. It's not a big deal if they don't want to bathe, because budgies can still keep their feathers clean and neat when they preen. If you want to, you could try to use a soft plant spray, as long as it has never had any chemicals in it. If your budgie doesn't like it, he will try to get away and keep his wings tight over his feathers. The important thing is not to force them. If you make your budgies wet against their will too often, they may start to hate you for it.
But don't worry: it's part of their instinct to take baths. Domesticated budgies just need some time to see the use of it. So no rush. I'm just going to put the bath there again next time and maybe they will try again.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Budgerigar 2012 Wall Calendar
If you're still looking for a Christmas present, or if you're a big budgie fan yourself, you can buy yourself a budgerigar calendar for next year.
The calendar was made by Avonside Publishing and is available on Amazon.co.uk, both for domestic and international delivery.
The calendar was made by Avonside Publishing and is available on Amazon.co.uk, both for domestic and international delivery.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Budgie of the month: Fatty!
Fatty is a blue budgerigar who belongs to a girl with the artist name IrishAppleTree. I decided to make him budgie of the month, because he's so cute and ... cuddly. And I have a soft spot for blue budgies. Now I wonder: is this budgie really bigger than the others or is it the angle of the camera doing it? :)
Here's a recent picture that I took when Isla was looking straight into the camera. It makes her look a little bit like Fatty too!
All pictures, except the last one are © to IrishAppleTree. Please visit her tumblr for more pictures!
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