Seagull 'bombs' Scottish woman - with a live budgie

From the Daily Mail, 14 September 2010:

"A budgie is probably the last thing you expect to land on your head while eating a bag of chips in Shetland.
But that is exactly what happened to Jill Newman as she strolled down a street in Lerwick enjoying her takeaway snack.
The bright yellow bird was about to become lunch for a hungry seagull when it decided Jill's chips looked tastier."

The lucky bird from the sky will always be grateful for French fries.

"The bizarre bombing run was triggered by a flock of seagulls that had just 'mobbed' the smaller bird - which was tagged and looked like it had escaped from someone's home - with one snatching it up in its beak.

But upon seeing Jill and her mother Betty Keegan strolling down Commercial Street carrying the tempting take-away snack in Lerwick, Shetland, the gulls dropped their catch."  
Jill said: 'The whole situation must have looked a laugh. It was just the last thing you'd expect when you're walking along eating a pack of chips.'
'I felt something scrape my head then saw it bounce off and hit a shop window. I couldn't believe it when I saw it was a budgie.'

The seagull had snatched the escaped budgie from mid-air as it was mobbed by a flock of native birds

Mrs Newman had just bought a portion of chips from this takeaway in Lerwick when she got attacked by the seagull.

The budgie is now safe at Betty's place where she is looking after it until someone comes forward.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1311860/Seagull-bombs-Scottish-woman--live-budgie-Was-chips.html#ixzz1F9MTda2d

Him or her?

 A male and female budgie go best together. Photo (c) kellynguyen67

You're standing in front of the budgie cage in the pet store, pondering over which budgie you should buy. That lovely blue-white pied female or the pretty seafoam green male with the yellow head. Tough choice!

The best answer is: him AND her!

Budgies are the happiest when a male and female can form a pair. But take it easy, you can't have baby budgies without a good nest box!
Did you know that coconuts were used for nest boxes when budgies were first imported in the UK? Read the full story here.

Budgies can't be kept alone. Budgies in the wild live in huge flocks, and that's the way domesticated budgies want it as well. The more budgies, the merrier! If you want to buy just one budgie, you will have to give it all your attention, but it still won't do. Your bird will always miss a companion of the same kind and will never be really happy as long as there is none. Therefore, a minimum of two budgies is strongly advised.

• If you have a pair of budgies, you will find it a lot easier to study the behaviour of the little parrots. You will discover how the male and female budgie spend their days together, cuddling and flirting and playing. It's a lot more fun for your budgies, but also for you!
• Male budgies can also live together. But it's not very exciting for the birds nor for you. You won't see as much of their true personality, compared to when you have a pair of budgies of the opposite sex (or a whole aviary of them)
• It's wiser not to keep two female budgies together. There is often hostility between females, and you don't want to see them fighting.

A day in Budgie Kingdom

Thanks to chibudgielvr for uploading this video!

How much does a budgie cost you?

 

Budgies are among the cheapest pets in the world. Picture (c) that cute site.

How much does it cost you to take care of your budgie? The price for a budgie depends on which part from the world you are from. Where I live in Belgium, they generally cost between 15 and 20 euros. In Norway, the standard price is twice as much (40 euros). The standard price in the U.S. is $20. English budgies and other special budgies cost more. 

What equipment do you need?

• A medium-sized cage: depending on the quality, anywhere between 5-200 euros (one-time cost)
• Bird feeders and drinking fountains (one-time cost, below 10 euros)
• Food basics: quality seed labeled for budgies, together with some fruit and vegetables. Egg food is also good for them. Price: below 10 euros a week.
• Cuttlebone: around 1 euro a week
• Mineral block: around 2-3 euros a week
• Toys: you can make them yourself or buy a few fun toys at the pet store (cheap one-time costs)
• Old newspaper: one of the best and cheapest cage liners
• Shell sand for the bottom of the cage: below 10 euros a month
• Light blanket to cover the cage at night (use one you have at home, you don't need to buy it)
• Of course, you need to include the costs of going to the vet when your bird gets sick. But that goes for all pets.

As you can see, budgies are among the cheapest and most fun pets in the world. If you are planning to buy a budgie soon, you can also take a look at this handy check list.

Curious about the most expensive pets in the world? Look here!

Do budgies have a sense of humor?

                                                       It's that white budgie again! Where does it come from?

It's widely believed that certain birds have a (wicked) sense of humour. A study shows that crows for example have the habit of waiting for unsuspecting humans to walk beneath the tree where they are perched on and then accurately drop acorns on their heads. When they hit their target, they apparently caw in delight, no doubt to draw their victim's attention to the fact that they've been punked. Some birds prefer pooping over throwing things at you, though! When you see a pigeon's butthole above you, you know you can't be safe.

What about budgies, though? These hardy little birds are not only very smart, but also really playful and eccentric. They love to make you laugh by doing all sorts of crazy things, like hanging upside down on a millet string or bouncing around on their perches. Did you ever see them sing and headbang at the same time?

When I observe my mum's budgies, I can sometimes tell that they are joking among each other, probably about us and the daily events in their own budgie culture. It's hard to tell for people who don't know budgies, but if you look closely enough, you will see the shining fun-lights in their eyes when they're uttering all kinds of happy twittering noises. Don't forget that budgies also want learn from humans and that includes our sense of humour, even though they don't get the full image of it.

According to Ryan Reynolds, owner of Victor the budgie, budgies have a natural trait of putting humour into almost everything they say.  Much of his budgie's humour came from poking fun at his mate Betty or making wisecracks about people. He also thought the way people fart is hilarious and made quite a few jokes about that.

Do budgies make you laugh? Feel free to post your story here :-)