For some time, I have been interested in pet birds. I have even had a campaign going that, as the only family member without a pet, it's only fair that I should get a bird to keep me company.My original thought was budgies, which are more commonly called "parakeets" in America. Of course, there are many kinds of parakeets, so budgie, or budgerigar, is perhaps a more meaningful name. Apparently, the name comes from an Australian aboriginal word which means "good to eat." Tastiness was not what attracted me to them but rather their energy, intelligence, and ease of care.
However, budgies, like most parrots, require regular out of cage time for exercise and stimulation. Amy wasn't sure she could handle a bird flying around and pooping in her house, so we decided finches were the way to go. Their pretty, chirp nicely, and are generally content to live in a large cage. I purchased an appropriate cage with some Christmas money and started preparing a home for the finches. This weekend I was planning to go to Quincy and bring them back.
About three days ago, Amy surprised me by saying she thought budgies might be OK after all. I was thrilled! I think finches would be wonderful birds, but budgies have such pretty coloring, and they are incredibly smart and playful. To make a long story a long story with a short ending, above is a picture of my two new budgies. Kiwi is the normal green on the left, and Calypso is the pastel yellow and pale green on the right.
8 Comments:
Nice birds. If you change your mind, let me know how they taste.
They do look intelligent, like they're about to say something.
How fun and pretty.
What does Pippin think?
Dennis--Will do.
Andrea--Pippin has not yet found them. This is good.
Hey Matt! We always had birds growing up. Finches.. I don't miss the food all over the floor! But do miss the sounds and the peculiar things they do! Birds are cool..
I hope you enjoy!
A species called "Good to Eat" and you name it Kiwi. The other one should probably be named Key Lime Pie instead of Calypso.
They look fun, though.
Trish--Yeah, I've already discovered that birds are amazingly messy, even with one of those elastic seed guard things! Amy would probably say it's good for me; maybe I won't be so anal about things.
Bob--Heh, heh. Actually, I was considering naming Calypso 'Kai,' which I understand means 'food' in Maori. This would have also dovetailed nicely with 'Kiwi' for the first bird since Kiwi is slang for inhabitants of New Zealand, home of the Maori people and part of the natural range of budgerigars!
We looked at getting an African Grey and still may some day but at the time I didn't have a job. Now we have a lovely orange cat named Ace.
On other news, we have a whole apartment sitting empty if you guys can ever come for a visit.
African Greys are very cool, but I'm not sure I have the time they would need. I bet Lizzie loves having a cat!
You have an apartment empty? What's that about? We'd love to visit, of course! Maybe in March or April we could swing it.
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