Who hunt budgerigars in nature. Budgerigar - how to care? Detailed description, views, photos, videos! Types of budgerigars, photos and colors

This type of bird, like the budgerigar, is the most common among other types of birds living next to humans. They have been around for five million years. You can start getting to know these pets with this article, which contains all the detailed information about them: where parrots come from, what is necessary for their comfortable living, and much more.

Short description:

• life span: 5-10 years;
• body size: pets - 17-19.8 cm, show individuals - 21-23 cm;
• wingspan: 9.5-10.5 cm;
• tail length: 8-10 cm;
• weight: 40-45 g;
• conditions of detention: contain budgerigars exclusively at home;
• activity: high;
• susceptibility to learning: high;
• susceptibility to training: high;
• who these birds are not suitable for: those who do not like unnecessary noise.

We will talk about why the budgerigar is called a budgerigar below, when we consider the origin of the Russian version of the name.

The Latin name Melopsittacus undulatus consists of three words:

• Greek melos, meaning "singing";
• Greek psittacos meaning "parrot";
• Latin indulatus meaning "wavy".

On the English language the budgerigar is called the budgerigar. Several centuries ago, the natives who lived in the area where these birds come from called them bedgerigas, which in translation into Russian means “fit for food”.

Appearance

To recognize a budgerigar, you need to understand what it looks like. The "wavy" has long legs, a tail in the form of steps, relatively large wings with pointed ends, a neck with movable vertebrae that can turn one hundred and eighty degrees. The dark blue color of the eyes is surrounded by an iris of yellow or white.

With its small size, the budgerigar resembles lovebirds from the parrot family, and the tail can be half the length of its body. Why does this bird look bigger than it really is. Juveniles have short tail which becomes longer with age.

Parrots always fly swiftly, along a slightly arcuate trajectory. Their beautiful movements resemble the flights of swallows or falcons. The landing of a budgerigar resembles a quail: in both birds, when landing, the wings bend in the same way - down. In addition, parrots feel great running on the ground or climbing trees.

colors

To understand why a budgerigar is called a budgerigar, you need to understand characteristic features his color: in the line drawing.

The natural color of the plumage of the budgerigar is green. This color performs a protective function, allowing the bird to hide in the grass or foliage in case of danger. Feathers in the frontal part, on the crown, front of the throat and head are bright yellow. Under the head, on the sides of the neck, there are six teardrop-shaped blue spots of various sizes, three on each side.

Green parrots have a blue-green tail with yellow spots. The dark green color is in the chest area, on the stomach and above the base of the tail. The feathers on the back, behind the neck, on the back of the head and on the wings of the bird have a dark wavy pattern, which is why this parrot got its species name. Thin and delicate lines of the drawing start from the head. Moving to the back, they become wider and coarser.

In young individuals, the waviness is slightly blurred and starts right from the nostrils. Adult parrots already have clear lines of drawing, which appear as soon as the yellow color appears.

By selection from a green budgerigar, parakeets appeared. For example, blue, yellow or light blue (gray). Occasionally there are white varieties (albinos).

The description of the colors of these birds includes information about the amazing property of plumage on the forehead of males. Under the influence of ultraviolet light, their feathers in the frontal part begin to glow (fluoresce). Unfortunately, we can only see this phenomenon in total darkness. And parrots distinguish a glow in the bright sun.

Under natural conditions, when the female chooses a partner, the presence of this ability in the male is in the first place for her, because she tends to make a choice in favor of luminous feathers.

Habitat and lifestyle

The birthplace of budgerigars is Australia, but these birds in nature have also chosen some of the nearby islands. Parrots live almost throughout the mainland, flying around the northern part, where there are impenetrable forests.

Of all the representatives of the parrot family, this species is the most numerous. Birds, gathering in flocks (from twenty to several hundred individuals), roam the Australian territory, flying from place to place. They inhabit both dry steppes and grassy plains, preferring areas where there are few trees. Budgerigars can fly huge distances in a short period of time, trying to find food and water.

The largest concentration of budgerigars occurs in the semi-desert parts of Australia during their nesting season. However, in different parts of the mainland they nest at different times of the year. Closer to the north - all year round after the rainy season, in the southern parts - in November-December.

For bird nests, free hollows in trees are chosen, where the female parrot is. She does not make any bedding - she hatches eggs laid right on the bottom of the hollow. The process continues for seventeen to twenty days. During this interval, the male flies away in search of food and brings it to the female, thus feeding her.

Due to the arrival of people, the number of these birds has noticeably decreased, because the Australian territory has undergone major changes. Budgerigars had to adapt to new conditions. They are trying to subsist on wheat, a new kind of grain crop, the grains of which are too large for them. And poachers played an important role in their population. Now there are much fewer parrots in nature than in captivity.

The history of the discovery of the species and curious facts

The first description of the budgerigar appeared in 1805. George Shaw's Naturists Miscellany contained little information about these exotic birds Oh. G. Nodder first captured a parrot, making a drawing of it around the same time. A stuffed budgerigar was first exhibited at the Carl Linnaeus Museum in 1831.

The life of these parrots in nature was first described in 1837. This was done by John Gould (ornithologist) in his writings on Australian birds. It was such good and complete information that no observations made until today have brought anything new. Many scientists agree that in 1840 it was John Gult who brought budgerigars to London with him.

Due to the fact that most of the exotic birds exported from Australia died before reaching their destination, the mainland government imposed a ban on their export. This law still exists today. Exceptions are made only for captive-born birds.

Budgerigars came to Russia from Western Europe. In the thirties, their breeding was first taken up by the Moscow Zoo, then by the zoocombinat, and only then they began to be kept and bred at home.

Most Interesting Facts about wavy parrots:

• these are the most popular poultry;
• these birds see the color world and are able to distinguish one hundred and fifty images per second, while a person is only sixteen;
• in nature, they are able to create a couple for life;
• their body temperature is about forty-one degrees;
• parrots can be both right-handed and left-handed;
• ten to twelve hours a day.

Health problems

At home, with proper care, budgerigars live up to ten years, or even much more. But these birds may appear:

• tumors;
• goiter inflammation;
• ornithosis;
• liver disease;
• polyoma virus;
• protozoal infections;
• psittacosis;
• wax hypertrophy.

Content Rules

To make the life of budgerigars comfortable at home, they create comfort as close as possible to the natural conditions of their habitat. Primary requirements:

• the correct light regime (wakefulness - sleep, sun or ultraviolet baths);
• humidity in the room fifty-five to seventy degrees;
• and twenty-two is twenty-five degrees;
• opportunities for free flight around the room.

The part of the world where macaws live is called America. These colorful birds inhabit its central and southern zones. The climate here is mostly hot and humid, averaging 20-28 degrees all year round. But on the coast, the temperature can rise higher, while in the mountains, on the contrary, it can drop to 10 degrees Celsius. Macaws have adapted to the local climate. Different types these birds settle both in tropical forests and in grassy savannahs, and in the mountains. In this article we will talk about their life in the natural environment.

Nowadays, parrots have a hard time, because people are reclaiming more and more land from nature. In South America, wild macaws can be seen in the Amazon region. On this mainland there are countries such as Bolivia, Colombia, Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina. In Central America, the macaw is found in Panama, Costa Rica and other countries as far as Mexico.

Despite the different living conditions, the dangers for parrots are the same everywhere:

• the man who hunts them;
• natural disasters;
• illness;
• predators;
• destruction of tropical forests.

Birds are saved by unpretentiousness and the ability to adapt to different living conditions. Often they are adjacent to a person, the main thing is that there are trees nearby.

The wavy in the house should receive good nutrition, similar to their food in the natural environment in the wild. Then they will delight the owner with cheerful singing and various tricks for many years. You can ensure good living conditions by knowing where parrots live and what they eat in the wild. This will help make the bird's diet balanced.

A budgerigar can be called an Australian sparrow. On the far southern continent, they are as common as our gray pichugs. Only in Australia live mainly endemic animals and birds, so budgerigars in nature pronounce about 10 different sounds, constantly sing, making up a “text” from them.

The budgerigar is an Australian sparrow

Budgerigars are found mainly on the northern and western coasts of Australia and migrate inland before the arrival of the rains. They surprisingly sense the period of awakening of nature. Parrots are considered the harbingers of rain. With the onset of winter, they make nests and breed parrots.

In places where budgerigars live, 2 seasons:

• summer - drought;
• winter - rains.

Birds in large flocks, the composition of which is constantly changing, move over short distances, while there is a lot of food. With the onset of drought, parrots migrate from a place where there is water, grass and shrubs grow.

Budgerigars fly in large flocks

What do parrots eat in their natural life. They peck grains of grasses, fruits of bushes. In the trees restless birds only sleep. Only during the period of feeding chicks prefer the pulp of fruits and the middle of seeds, nuts.

Having found kangaroo grass, the parrot actively feeds, moving along the ground. A flock moves in a wave across the field. When food becomes scarce, the birds that are behind rise and fly in search of other eateries.

Birds suffer the most without water. During the hot period, the channels of small rivers and lakes dry up. The parrot gathers dew from the leaves in the morning. When the flock finds a source of water, the weaker birds perch along the edge and drink. The rest quickly quench their thirst on the fly.

Budgerigars suffer without water

Budgerigars in the wild have many enemies among birds of prey. In the open area of ​​the reservoir, pichugs are vulnerable, so they try to quickly fly away under the protection of shrubs and trees.

The budgerigar has a strong beak with sharp notches along the edges. It easily cracks nuts and shells large seeds from bushes. The bird gives preference to small grass seeds, about 20 varieties, which he can swallow completely. The degree of ripeness does not play a special role.

In places where budgerigars live, there are few trees; they prefer shrubs and grass up to a meter high. Finding appropriate place, quickly all peck, running from place to place on the ground. Especially active in the morning. Peeled from a rough shell, the fruits are first sent to the goiter, then partially digested into the stomach.

Birds prefer shrubs and grass

The budgerigar can eat the fruits of trees. This mainly occurs at the beginning of the rainy season, when the birds begin to incubate and feed the chicks. Then they prefer soft food. The offspring that have left the nest are fed by their parents for about 3 more weeks. They fly up to a flock of young and call their cubs.

The young leave the nest at the age of 30-50 days. All this time, the parents feed them, regurgitating half-digested food. The parrot is a social creature. They build nests close to other families, they choose a couple forever. Ornithologists consider wavy in pairs. The flock, with which they lived for some time, the birds easily change to another. Whoever noticed food or water first warns the whole flock with special signals. This helps them survive in difficult conditions.

Unlike large breeds of parrots, budgerigars never eat larvae, pupae and other forms of insects. They can gnaw at the bark, separating it from the trunk with their strong beak and breaking it into pieces.

In Australia, before the arrival of the colonists, parrots lived several times more. Now the places where the birds traditionally ate are plowed under crops. On several thousand hectares, all vegetation was destroyed during weapons tests. As a result, parrots migrate when there is nothing to eat, they can destroy a crop in a field of several hectares in a day. Among budgerigars, cockatiels, macaws and other representatives of larger breeds sometimes live in a flock during a drought.

Most of the people live on the coast. In the north, the climate is even, allowing crops to be grown almost all year round. Australia is located so that its northern part is close to the equator with its year-round summer. Therefore, budgerigars from that part of the mainland migrate over insignificant distances. Western parrots fly tens of kilometers a day in search of food and in the rainy season they move deep into the mainland, during a drought they can fly into cities in search of food.

During the day, parrots fly tens of kilometers in search of food.

In captivity, the amount of food for a budgerigar is 2 teaspoons. In the wild, the bird has to fly a lot in search of food, run on the ground and climb trees. They need fat deposits to migrate for several days without water and food. Therefore, when a field of wheat comes across along the way and there is nothing else, the flock quickly harvests. In the presence of meadow grasses, budgerigars do not eat large grains of cereals.

How to feed a home wavy

The main budgerigar living in the house should consist of several types of seeds:

• sesame;
• sunflower;
• flax;
• hemp;
• millet;
• oats.

Hemp seeds

The budgerigar is one of the most popular pet birds kept by hobbyists. It can be found everywhere and at the most different people- from gray-haired professors and housewives, schoolchildren and thoughtful professional researchers. Many people fell in love with this bird, which is not very similar to a parrot due to the lack of luxurious plumage (although there are parrots that have a monochromatic color, but there are relatively few of them). Most of the species of these birds have a bright, juicy color, sometimes even "screaming". Budgerigars have become so popular that they have "overtaken" in this respect even canaries, which for a long time hold the lead in the number of birds in captivity among decorative birds.

Here is what the biologist Y. Zabludsky said about this bird: " Budgie extraordinarily beautifully built: an elongated body, a small graceful head, a stepped long tail, elongated, pointed, like a swallow, wings.