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| Image © athenatt on deviantART |
Showing posts with label blue budgies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blue budgies. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
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...
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 |
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.
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| 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 |
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!
Sunday, September 11, 2011
What's your favorite color for a budgie?
Budgies come in over one hundred different kinds of colors. The primary color is green, which is typical in the wild as camouflage. There are various shades of blue, opaline, grey, white, yellow, pied (mixed colors), cobalt, violet and many more.
The poll that I set up at the beginning of July has revealed that a lot of people have a soft spot for blue budgerigars. Why do so many people prefer the color blue over all other colors? Does it remind you of the sky, the sea, and all the calm things in the world?
A bit of psychology:
Blue is often associated with depth and stability. It symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven. Blue is in many commercials also used to promote cleanliness.
Personally, I like blue budgies because it makes them look even more like creatures of the sky. But not all blue budgies have a calm personality, although I have seen a lot of wise blue budgies in my life. It all depends where they grow up.
Over to the results:
Ta-dah! Blue budgies all the way across the sky! A lot of people also like pied, green and yellow budgies. The reason why grey budgies are at the bottom of the list might be because it's a rare mutation. Only white-based budgies with a grey factor turn out to be real grey budgies.
Now, you could ask yourself the question: what do budgies actually think of their color? Are they just as crazy about blue budgies as we are?
Answer 1: budgies don't only see the colors that we can see, but they are also able to see ultraviolet light. All budgies that have yellow pigmented feathers will glow in the dark. Wow! This makes it somewhat easier for green and yellow budgies to find a mate, because female budgies really like those shiny feathers. Blue budgies, however, don't glow in the dark because they lack yellow pigment.
Answer 2: blue is not exactly a good camouflage color in the Australian wilderness. Blue budgies that are born in the wild, will lose the protection of blending in with their flock. Other flock members will chase them off because blue budgies look "weird" and attract too much attention.
Luckily, blue budgies who are kept together with other budgies don't have such a bad life. They are not a target to bullies, as opposed to budgies who are ill. When there's a good balance of males and females, blue budgies will most likely still find a mate. So don't worry! Take good care of your feathered friends and help them whenever they need it!
The poll that I set up at the beginning of July has revealed that a lot of people have a soft spot for blue budgerigars. Why do so many people prefer the color blue over all other colors? Does it remind you of the sky, the sea, and all the calm things in the world?
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| Photo © Undulater i fokus |
Blue is often associated with depth and stability. It symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven. Blue is in many commercials also used to promote cleanliness.
Personally, I like blue budgies because it makes them look even more like creatures of the sky. But not all blue budgies have a calm personality, although I have seen a lot of wise blue budgies in my life. It all depends where they grow up.
Over to the results:
Ta-dah! Blue budgies all the way across the sky! A lot of people also like pied, green and yellow budgies. The reason why grey budgies are at the bottom of the list might be because it's a rare mutation. Only white-based budgies with a grey factor turn out to be real grey budgies.
Now, you could ask yourself the question: what do budgies actually think of their color? Are they just as crazy about blue budgies as we are?
Answer 1: budgies don't only see the colors that we can see, but they are also able to see ultraviolet light. All budgies that have yellow pigmented feathers will glow in the dark. Wow! This makes it somewhat easier for green and yellow budgies to find a mate, because female budgies really like those shiny feathers. Blue budgies, however, don't glow in the dark because they lack yellow pigment.
Answer 2: blue is not exactly a good camouflage color in the Australian wilderness. Blue budgies that are born in the wild, will lose the protection of blending in with their flock. Other flock members will chase them off because blue budgies look "weird" and attract too much attention.
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| Image © The Aywas Wiki |
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Welcome home, Frodo and Isla
Today was another big day for us: we bought our first two budgies!
Frodo (on the left) doesn't seem to be one of the most common types. I think he might have a grey factor, but he's also leaning towards violet. Isla (on the right) is almost certainly a dark-eyed clear.
The budgies are now sleeping peacefully after an exhausting first day. You know the first day is always a bit scary for new budgies, because they need time to get used to their new environment.
I was glad to hear both of them grind their beak at night, though... I think we've got two happy budgies here :)
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| Click to view full size |
The budgies are now sleeping peacefully after an exhausting first day. You know the first day is always a bit scary for new budgies, because they need time to get used to their new environment.
I was glad to hear both of them grind their beak at night, though... I think we've got two happy budgies here :)
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
The first blue budgerigar
In the beginning of the 20th century, the keeping and breeding of budgerigars became very popular all around the world. Consequently, various colours and mutations occurred during this period.
This is dedicated to all people who like blue budgies: the first sky blue budgerigar was recorded in 1878 in Belgium (suddenly I like my home country a little bit more!). Sadly, this mutation disappeared only a few years later, because very little was known about budgies back then, and no one understood how the colours were created.
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| Painting by Michael Creese |
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Blue budgies in the wild: a sad story
From time to time, a blue budgie is born in the wild. So it is possible! And not just blue budgies either; reports during the 18th and 19th century indicate sightings of dark factor, possibly violet factor, opaline and albino budgies.
How does this happen?
Natural mutations occur just as frequently in the wild as in captivity. Also, there have been reports of escaped budgies in Australia that might have found their way to the wild flocks in and around the Outback. If one of these escaped budgies was a blue budgie, and if he was able to join a flock, he might have had enough time to start a nest with one of the wild budgies.
Do they survive?
No, almost never. The life-threatening circumstances and dangers of the wild can't make a new mutation viable, given that budgies with different appearances caused by mutations stand out and completely lose the protection of "blending in" with the rest of the flock.
They are singled out and killed by predators, as it is easier to keep them in sight.
No hope for blue budgies
Some budgies do stand a chance, though. It is not unusual to find opalines, cinnamon- and greywinged budgies in the wild. You will sometimes even find grey green budgies, as they don't seem to stand out like a blue or a pied budgie would. A flock of thousands of green birds with a blue bird in the middle easily catches the eye of predators, and the hawks head straight for them. On top of that, coloured budgies are often killed by other budgies because of the danger they pose to the rest of the flock.
Let's all pamper our sweet blue budgies today, make them feel at home where they are appreciated! Budgies in the wild have no choice but to reject them, for the sake of survival.
How does this happen?
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| Image © Alicia Guzmán Moya |
Do they survive?
No, almost never. The life-threatening circumstances and dangers of the wild can't make a new mutation viable, given that budgies with different appearances caused by mutations stand out and completely lose the protection of "blending in" with the rest of the flock.
They are singled out and killed by predators, as it is easier to keep them in sight.
No hope for blue budgies
Some budgies do stand a chance, though. It is not unusual to find opalines, cinnamon- and greywinged budgies in the wild. You will sometimes even find grey green budgies, as they don't seem to stand out like a blue or a pied budgie would. A flock of thousands of green birds with a blue bird in the middle easily catches the eye of predators, and the hawks head straight for them. On top of that, coloured budgies are often killed by other budgies because of the danger they pose to the rest of the flock.
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| Image © text.nu |
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