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?

Image © Alicia Guzmán Moya

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.

Image © text.nu

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.

Budgies and their love for Eucalypt Trees

Eucalypt trees - also referred to as "gum trees" - have a special place in the life of the budgerigar.

The wild budgerigars in Australia have evolved alongside the Eucalypt tree and over all these thousands of years, they have developped an intimate bond with the tree and its leaves. Wet eucalypt leaves excite and invigorate both the wild and aviary budgerigar into a frenzy of joy. Does this sound familiar? Yes, budgerigars also start to sing when it's raining outside! It's an ancient instinct that tells them that the tide has turned in their favour.

How does Eucalypt help budgies?

Budgies love to bathe in wet Eucalypt leaves. It's healthy and refreshing for the little birds. Females in breeding mood chew the bark in search for trace elements and lysine, the breeding protein. Wild budgies also prefer the branches and trunks of Eucalypt trees to build their nests in. On top of that, the Eucalyptus oil from the leaves has some good medicinal properties that stimulate the immune system and promote a strong natural resistance to disease. The Eucalypt branches are also a personal favourite of the budgies for stripping and gnawing. And they love doing that!
This is why you should give the branches and the leaves to your budgie sometimes, it's their natural food and it's full of good things.

Important sidenote about your budgerigar's diet: Budgerigars are vegetarian and should not be supplied with meat, milk or other animal proteins. The birds' digestive systems are not able to properly digest such food, and these proteins tend to go off quickly.

Millet combined with fresh Eucalypt leaves: your budgie's dream dinner. Image ©budgierisa.webs.com

Images above (c) Wikipedia & The Telegraph

Information is copyright © 2000 Rob Marshall.

Export Prohibition / Globetrotter Budgies

Australia has been home to the wild budgerigars for at least five million years. Image (c) Bush Budgies

The home of the budgerigar is in Australia. They were discovered by the money forger Thomas Watling in 1792. Budgerigars were able to live in freedom until 1840, when the first live specimens were caught and exported to England.

The shipping of budgerigars was a very severe ordeal. The birds had little to no chances of survival, because no one knew what kind of food and care budgerigars needed. In fact, very little was known about budgerigars, because no one had ever studied a live specimen. Most of the budgerigars that did survive the whole journey often died shortly afterwards. This nightmare went on for years and the trade with budgerigars rose in such leaps and bounds that the Australian government finally imposed an export prohibition for budgerigars in 1884. This export prohibition is still valid today, although the budgerigar doesn't belong to the list of the threatened species in Australia.

Budgerigars huddled together in cold and rainy Western Europe. Image (c) Alieh S.

The few birds that survived the shipping journey were pampered in every way possible in order to keep them alive and happy (and to encourage them to breed, of course). There is a positive consequence linked to this: it is so easy to breed budgerigars today that no one bothers to catch them in the wild anymore. Just like globetrotters, they have travelled all over the world.

Budgerigars can be found all over the world, although their natural habitat remains in Australia. Image (c) Wikipedia

The first breeding result was based on pure luck. A female budgie had crawled through the small hole of an excavated coconut and gave birth to a nest of baby budgies, right there inside that coconut! By the end of the 19th century, yellow budgies started to appear and in 1910 the first blue budgie attracted many surprised people to an exhibition. Today, there are millions of colour and mutation variations, some of them more extraordinary than the others.

When budgerigars were first imported into the UK, people chose coconuts as nest boxes for budgies, thanks to the first breeding success! Image (c) Barrie's Budgerigars.

Out together, home together

Being part of a flock is very important to wild budgerigars.
If for example one bird takes off to drink, the whole flock will follow.

This is not just because budgerigars love to be together, but it also works as a precaution against possible enemies.

Image (c) tr1307 on flickr.com

Budgies in Australia: discovery

Budgerigars have survived the harsh inland conditions of the Australian Outback for the last 5 million years. They were well known to the native aboriginal peoples of Australia, who used to catch the budgies for food and used their plumage for symbolic decorations. They already had a few names for the birds by the time colonists became familiar with them in the 1700s.

The English Zoologist Dr. George Kearsly Shaw (1751-1813) documented the existence of the species in 1794, but they were not yet able to make a good study on budgerigars, since they were still living in the wild. Shaw was the first to describe the small parrot, "the Australian Splendid Grass Parakeet", which he named "psitaccus undulatus" (undulated grass parakeet).
The English ornithologist John Gould (1804-1881) was clearly fascinated by these small birds, referring to them as the "most animated, cheerful little creatures you can possibly imagine".

Some extracts from Gould's masterpiece Birds in Australia
So they still had dodo's back then? Wow... check out that nice picture of our sweet budgie buddies!

Gould was able to take a few budgerigars home with him. In 1840 he published the first detailed report on budgerigar behaviour in his work Birds of Australia. He was also the one who came up with the current scientific name, melopsitaccus undulatus ("melodious parrot", but also meaning "the best of all the grass parakeets"), in recognition of the birds' unique characteristics.

John Gould is mostly remembered because he was the one who imported the first live budgies to Britain during the same year, in 1840. Gould is also remembered as the enthusiastic ornithologist who described the famous finches of the Galapagos isles, in cooperation with Charles Darwin.

Five million years later, vast flocks of wild budgerigars still range across the deserts and dry grasslands of the Australion Outback. Fossiled bones found in Australia reveal that budgies have barely changed in the last four million years. This means they have been around far longer than the Aboriginal people, who arrived about 40,000 years ago, or any human beings at all!
If anyone knows the secrets and dangers of Australia, it's a budgerigar. These little birds are shaped by natural evolution, healthy, hardy, adaptable, tough and intelligent. They are capable of flying more than 400 km in a single day.

Fun facts:

Ever since Gould introduced the birds to Europe, they've become the world's most popular pet bird. Nowadays, it's illegal to export wild budgerigars from Australia. Don't confuse this with the so-called Budgie Smuggler meme, it has not much to do with real budgerigars - but more with a certain kind of swimwear:

http://www.budgysmuggler.com.au/
http://www.budgysmuggler.com.au/about/
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=budgie%20smugglers

Australia: Homeland of Budgies (5)

One thing that is interesting to know about, is the breeding behaviour of wild budgerigars.
How can they stay alive with a high Summer temperature and an unpredictable low rainfall as an annual constant?

Budgerigars are nomadic birds. They will always move on to a better spot when times are hard. Another technique for them to stay alive in the dry Outback of Australia is by following thunderstorms. The smallest bit of water after a dry period can attract explosive numbers of budgies. When they run out of water, they have to move on until they find new water. Sometimes, a drought like this lasts several years. Whenever there's an opportunity, they have no choice but to take it.


Rainfall doesn't just mean salvation for the brave little yellow-green birds - it also marks the beginning of the breeding season. Rain means a brand new food supply - one that can feed enough beaks. Budgerigars have adapted to this unpredictable climate by activating their breeding cycle very quickly after the rain. They respond sexually to the good times, but when food supplies are limited by drought, they have no desire to mate and are unable to breed. In short - they're too busy surviving.

But even though rain is necessary, it's not going to decide completely whether the budgies will bring their breeding activity to a succesful conclusion.
Nature has got many seasonal, climatic, geographical and geological challenges in store for them. Taking this into account, the budgies will also have to keep their eyes peeled for danger. They're not the only animals who want to settle down in a fertile area after months of drought.


The soil in the upland areas of the Outback is more fertile than the reddish brown soil in the lowland areas. But the lowlands soil is rich in iron, and contains a lot of calcium in some parts. This calcium supply is a determining factor in the budgerigar's selection of nesting grounds. Calcium is necessary for egg production, which is a crucial part of the breeding cycle.
Beyond the lowlands, there lies a no-go place for budgies: the inhospitable sand deserts and barren plains.

There are Acacia shrubs dispersed throughout all of the lowlands, together with a diverse range of grasses. The grasses start to flower when there's enough rain, providing the famous grass seeds that budgies love so much. However, when it's really too dry, the grasses are completely useless as a food supply. The budgies are then forced to the dangerous sand deserts beyond the lowlands, where they are unable to breed. Desert vegetation that provide enough nutrients for the budgerigar's survival consist mostly of tussock grasses, Spinifex, Bandicoot Grass, Blue Bush and Salt Bush. This might keep the budgies alive for a good while, but the lack of rain and the absense of calcium-enriched soils make it impossible to breed.

Although not everything, the wet season determines a major part of the budgerigar's breeding cycle.
The starting time and duration of the wet season vary from year to year, partially depending on the monsoon activity further North and West of Australia.
The so-called El Niño and La Niña phenomena also have a major effect on the starting time and duration of the wet season.
An intense El Niño results in drought and often means death for some budgerigars. A normal El Niño results in monsoon activity in November, extending throughout the whole Summer (until April). The success of the budgies' breeding cycle is heavily dependant on both El Niño and La Niña - phenomena that appear to follow a 1500-2000 years long cycle. La Niña (or "anti- El Niño) is often followed by a strong El Niño. For the budgies, this is translated into: "Now we've survived the worst, it can only get better". La Niña causes mostly the opposite of El Niño, and since El Niño often causes a dry period, La Niña often brings salvation for the budgies: a wet period. When La Nina dominates the weather pattern, the number of budgies will rise again.

It's a combination of rainfall with moderate temperatures that makes breeding conditions as perfect as they can be. This way, breeding in the North isn't possible in the Summer, because of exterme temperatures. Similarly, temperatures are too cold in the South, even when there's enough rain.
During Winter months, budgerigars may fly to the North-East of Queensland where warmer temperatures allow breeding after the rain. The remaining seasons, especially Spring, are the most suitable times for the budgerigars to start their breeding cycle because of the moderate temperature.

In the Australian Outback, water is scarce and budgerigars must seek to find this in order to survive. About 80% of the desert waters come from thunderstorms. The thunderstorms are heavy and cause a flood, flowing down the slopes, into the dry riverbeds. These shallow rivers, waterholes, make an ideal nesting area for the budgies.

Finally, they found the perfect place to take a break from their nomadic life and start a family. They've earned it!


Information and pictures are (c) birds-online.de; pixdaus.com; sunnyhollowaviaries.com; birdhealth.com.au

Australia: Homeland of Budgies (4)

In the wild, budgies build their nests in cavities and hollow tree trunks. They do this because the closed-in space makes them feel safe.
Domesticated budgies will also feel safer if you help them make a nest instead of giving them nest boxes.

Wild budgies prefer the branches and trunks of Eucalyptus trees to build their nests in. In these Eucalyptus trees, there are cavities in various sizes. The budgies will pick out the small cavities and make it their home, while larger birds like cockatiels will occupy the larger cavities.


This budgie is already excited to become a dad!

To find the perfect nesting areas, they have to find water. They aren't always lucky - sometimes their feeding grounds are 50 km away from the nesting areas.
The ideal place is of course a river bank: there's bound to be food and water around!

A creek is also a dream-home for a budgie: creeks are small streams, often shallow so the budgerigars can easily drink from it. And they love bathing! On top of that, it's probably bursting with food supplies during and after the rain season.

After the rain has come, budgies finally get ready to start a family of their own. They have to take advantage of the sudden big food supply, while it still lasts. The Australian Outback is known to be very hot and very dry and it often gives the budgies a hard time.
Each pair of budgies looks for a nice-looking little cavity in a hollow tree or log. The mother budgie lays four to six eggs and has to keep them warm for nearly three weeks.

In case the breeding cavity is too small, the female budgie can make more room with aid of her beak. Female budgies indeed have a harder bite than male budgies, because evolution made their jaw muscles stronger. So beware!

Father budgie isn't allowed to take a good look at the nest yet; his only task consists of bringing food to his mate and guarding the territory.
Once the baby budgies hatch, they're completely helpless, and remain that way for the next three weeks. When they start growing feathers, the father is allowed into the nest and helps to take care of his babies, so mother budgie can have a break every now and again.
Just a few weeks later, and the baby budgies are ready to spread their wings and join the big flock in their adventure of life. If the conditions are right - if there's still enough food and water around - Mom and Dad might start a new family right away.

The fact that budgies are colonial birds is yet another survival technique. When times are good, you can often see budgie couples bring up their babies at the same time, in the same eucalyptus trees. Nesting in colonies, as it's called, is an effective way to guarantee a maximum safety for each flock member. Many birds have a lot of eyes, and they're constantly watching the nesting grounds and the area surrounding it.

Budgies have different dialects that differ from flock to flock, but they will always understand each other when it comes to surviving. It is a certainty that budgerigars have a unified language, wherever they may come from. Otherwise they wouldn't be able to warn each other in case of danger. It goes as far as that budgies can even communicate certain information to other conspecifics (birds belonging to the same species). When there is danger, everyone needs to know.

Information and images (c) www.nwf.org; www.birdsonline.de; emucreekstation.com; kilcowerastation.wordpress.com; flickr.com

Australia: Homeland of Budgies (2)

Wild budgies have no easy life. They live in Australia's "Outback", that's what they call the central part of the country, where there's little or no rain during the year.

Still, these birds have what it takes to survive in this barren place.
This is one of the reasons:


Appearance (I'm hereby referring to one of my earlier posts)

Potentially, there are about 20 million different possible colour combinations for aviary budgies. But the wild budgie is green. Any significant variation on this would make the bird stand out in the crowd, so it would become an easy target prey for hawks.

One more reason: they are absolute acrobats in the air. Although there can be over one thousand budgies in one flock, they will never collide. Wild budgies are quite small, slim and athletic. Their tiny form and athleticism make them difficult to catch.

Nest boxes

Unlike other birds, budgies prefer nesting in a hole in a tree to building the nest themselves.
That's doesn't mean they're lazy - it's in fact really clever. Wild budgies breed during the rainfall in Australia, and without their "little cave" in the tree, they would get really cold and wet...

photo: pittwateranimalhospital.com.au

The budgies you keep at home will be satisfied with a wooden nest box, preferably a long horizontal model.

Camouflage

photo: youraustralia.eu

Their colour is just one thing that makes them special. Not all budgies are green, though. Since the 1850s, breeders have been working to produce a wide range of colour mutations. Budgerigars who live in the wild, on the other hand, need a certain camouflage to trick predators... they're not that easy to spot!

Thousands of kilometers

We have been fascinated by birds for a long time, especially by their remarkable sense of orientation that they use to cross continents. How migratory birds succeed to bridge thousands of kilometers succesfully, time after time, still remains a mystery. A lot of birds orientate themselves by using their sight. But how do they succeed to stay on course at night or with large cloud covers? Research has proven that a young bird on its first migration flies in the correct direction, according to the Earth's magnetic field. The question whether budgies are able to do this or not, remains unsolved.

But, during their long nomadic flights, they always seem to know precisely where to find rich feeding grounds and waterholes...

Appearance is important

Budgies are known to be very hardy little birds. If a budgie gets ill in the wild, he will conceal it as long as possible so as not to appear weak and vulnerable to snakes and hawks.

Thirsty?

Photo: ozimages.com

Budgerigars are well adapted to their desert habitat and can survive up to one month without water.
A human being can survive an average of three to five days without the intake of water.