Budgies in love

To end the month on a positive note: here is a really sweet video of two budgies showing the world what it means to be in love :)

How do budgies keep cool in the Summer?

We're currently experiencing a heatwave in Belgium, which makes life hard for everyone. Old people, children, everyone's wishing it was Winter again. "How do budgies manage to stay cool?" my fiancé asked me today, so I went to find out.

Image © Triplej Australia

It appears that budgies in general are well adapted to hot climates: they have been surviving in the hottest parts of Australia for millions of years.

But:

Budgies have a higher body temperature than humans (common temperature of 41°C) and a higher metabolic rate. Their body size is quite small, so you would think they absorb the heat very quickly. Budgies spend all their activity during the day so that they really have to control their body heat to keep from overheating!

How can they stay cool?

Physical evolution to withstand the heat in Australia:

• A fast respiration rate (which allows greater heat dissipation through breathing)
• Bare feet, which may sound silly, but it also contributes to heat loss

Otherwise, budgies are very hardy little creatures and basically do the same thing humans do when they try to stay cool:

• Keep their activity level down compared to regular days, when the air is cooler
• Sleep/take naps
• Hide in the trees when it's too warm during the day
• Panting: just like dogs, budgies also pant to dissipate heat
• Bathing, of course, helps to cool their bodies down. It also keeps their feathers clean.
• When a cool breeze provides some relief from the heat, budgies may puff out their feathers or flutter their wings to let the circulating air reach their hot skin.
• Survive, no matter how hot it gets!

Some types of food can quickly go rancid in the Summer. Photo © Kurt Kolar's "Grasparkieten"

You have to take good care of the budgies you keep at home, because they can get really hot during the Summer. Don't keep them right under the roof where the sun burns the hardest. Make sure they have a shelter in the shade, where they can go regularly. Provide them refreshment under the form of a bird bath or make them wet with a plant sprayer. Also make sure they have enough nutritious food and give them some fresh fruit on the side. Don't forget to keep an extra eye out for hygiene, because certain types of food can quickly go rancid in the Summer. These small things will be very much appreciated by your budgies on hot days like this.

Budgies and Showers

Bathing or showering is important to keep your budgie's feathers clean and healthy. Every budgie likes refreshment in a different way: some budgies love the simplicity of a bird bath from the pet store, some budgies like to roll around in wet leaves and some budgies like to have a roomy, shallow plate filled with water.
When it comes to refreshment, they don't make a distinction between drinking water and bathing water; as long as it's clean and fresh! (so make sure to refresh their drinking water if they decide to use this as a bath)

Image © Kurt Kolar's "Grasparkieten"

Some budgies enjoy real showers even more. If they are tame, you can take them to the water tap and let them take a shower. Budgies should be able to bathe or shower any time of the year.

A few simple rules for bath time:

• Room temperature should be around 20°C and there shouldn't be any drafts in the house
• Your budgie must be healthy, not suffering from a cold or illness (in this case, bathing could make it worse)
• Bathing time should be somewhere in between late morning and late afternoon, so that your budgie gets a chance to dry before bedtime
• Do not blowdry your budgie or use a towel, you could hurt your bird with this.

Read more about bathing budgies here:

Bathing time! (Budgies are Awesome)
Bathing Budgies (Birds Online)

Do budgies have nightmares?

Image © katfreak123

All budgies have nightmares. Some budgies have it more frequently or violently than others and it's especially for these budgies that I write this blog post.  

When does this happen?

• Usually between late evening and early morning
• Budgies have poor eyesight in the dark, so they are more alert and get startled by any sudden movement or noise that wakes them from their (near) sleep
• When one budgie wakes up and gets scared, the others will get scared as well

Image © Tailfeathers Network

What are the main reasons?

• They are in a strange world; a budgie who has no one to relate to will more likely get nightmares than budgies who sleep together in a group
• Mite infestation (mites are nocturnal creatures that will bite your budgie while it sleeps. The bites can be painful and create a nasty dream in the bird's head.)
• Poor eyesight in combination with the natural fright of the dark that most animals share
• Lack of sleep or a disturbed sleeping pattern (too many budgies don't get the necessary 12 hours of sleep)
• Naturally high metabolism
• Trauma (for example death of a partner)
• A dark blanket over the cage (your budgie isn't able to see anything and will not feel safe)

What happens when a budgie gets a nightmare?

• Budgie wakes up with a loud squawk
• Budgie is only partially awake and gets disorientated
• Budgie will start flying around in the cage, bumping into the sides (and other budgies)
• In the worst case, your budgie may lose its balance and fall off the perch
• Some factors will only increase their fear (heavy rainfall, thunderstorm and lightning)
• Most nightmares are no more than a little scare and those are quickly over, but the bird will likely still be in shock minutes afterwards (breathing very fast, eyes wide open)

Night terrors are dangerous, as budgies can hurt themselves while fluttering around in the cage.


How can you help your budgie to sleep better?

Image ©blog.superguide.jp

• Add a small night light in the room
• Dont make any sudden movements or loud noises in the dark when you go to bed
• Don't watch any scary/horror movies when they can hear it. If you watch tv late in the evening, I recommend you to keep the volume down in any case.
• Cover their cage for the night, but only with a light, thin blanket.
• Remove the blanket carefully in the morning, don't pull it off briskly
• Put the cage in a quiet room where no cars pass by
• Do NOT put your budgies in the kitchen! There are too many noises there that frighten them.
• Keep your budgies away from cats and dogs in the house, budgies see so poorly in the dark that they won't recognize them and get scared

One more tip I can give you: as an owner, try to stick to a fixed sleeping pattern because your budgie automatically adapts itself to your rhythm. The same, familiar scene every evening will make your budgie sleep better and reduce the number of nightmares.

Wordle Cloud of Budgies are Awesome

As a translator, I have come across Wordle before. Now the latest post on my fiancé's blog reminded me of how useful this tool can be. You can create a stylish word cloud from any text page, preferably one with 1000+ words. It will put the emphasis on the most important words, to give you an idea of what the text is all about.

I tried it out on my blog, and it looks like this: (can you guess what the most important word is? ;)

(click on image to view full size)

Thanks Erlend for the idea! <3