Escaped Budgerigars Have Little Chance in Winter

Manawatu Times, Volume 66, Issue 179, 30 July 1941, Page 8

Escaped Budgerigars Have Little Chance in Winter

Lost, Blue Budgerigar. Finder please phone Ilf That simple advertisement was probably the obituary notice of the bird, a member of one of the most popular species of pets in Christchurch to-day, states the Star Sun. ►Someone was feeding him in his cage and left the cage door open while changing the water in the drinking vessel. When the owner came back “Peter” (most popular pet name for lovebirds) had vanished. Greatly daring, he had ventured out of his confined quarters and, after a first testing fluttor of his delicate wings, had flown swiftly to some tall ttees in the next block. And that was the beginning of the end of Peter—as it has been for hundreds of other “budgies” this winter. No matter how long a bird lias been kept in captivity, hatched and reared in a cage, its natural instinct is to fly. But, unaccustomed to fending for itself, the “budgie” is an easy victim of the elements. Succumb to Cold In the opinion of Mr. Alex Henry, a well-known Christchurch fancier, the life of an escaped budgerigar is about a day and a half in the sort of weather Christchurch lias been having latol} r . Used to an even temperature, the bird soon becomes weak in the cold and, deprived of food, is soon an easy prey for any prowling cat which chances its way. The “budigie” staple diet is composed of millet, canary seed, and groundsel, and, while it might find a morsel of groundsel in summer, there is none offering at this season of the year. The lovebird, like the dove, has little sense of direction and seldom is capable of finding its way home after an escape. There are exceptions, of course, one of winch is a Christchurdh budgie which w£s watched by its owner disappearing from sight, but which latex returned to its cage unaided. But for the majority, over the neighbour’s fence is a new and strange world in which they can find no bearings to guide them home. And then their end is near.