Can Parakeets Be Mean Or Cruel? Kill Their Young or Their Mates? Questions.

 

I've been answering questions to rosie.birds@gmail.com, but haven't blogged lately. I have many questions and answers to post and eventually will; however, this one arrived today and touches me. Here it is with my answer. Please don't hesitate to comment if you've experienced anything like it, or have suggestions. Thanks!  

 

QUESTION:

Hi.  I wonder if you can give me some advice please. I had a pair of Bourkes parakeets. The little pink one was the male, the normal the female. They have lived together for three and a half years.  The female has laid eggs four times. Time before last two hatched but she killed the babies.

Yesterday we went out for the afternoon and evening and when we got home the floor surrounding the cage, which is huge, was covered in pink feathers. The Rosie was at the bottom of the cage with hardly any feathers and blood on his back. He was obviously in shock. We put the separated in the cage to keep the female away from him, gave him some water and millet and left him for the night.

This morning when we got up he was dead in the corner of the cage.

I am heartbroken as he was such a gentle lovable little character.  I can't understand why the female killed him. Do you know if this is normal behaviour.  We don't know what to do with the female now as she will be on her own.  It would appear that she does want babies as she keeps laying eggs and sitting on them. I would be so glad of any advice you could give.  Thank you.

 

 

ANSWER: 

Wow, how terrible. Are you certain she did it? Sounds like you are. Parakeets of any variety can have birds that are mean. Bourkes are usually very sweet, but exceptions happen. I am surprised, however, that the male Bourke didn't fight back and protect himself even though Bourke females usually do boss (hen peck) their mates. I wonder if he was already weak or sick. All birds hide their health problems very well.

I had one hen that I think was mentally ill. I'd sold a Rosy hen with a Normal male. The person who bought them had them for a while, then gave them to her grandmother. While there, they laid a clutch of eggs and hatched one. One day she called to ask me to take them back. She said the baby had died in the nest and they didn't want to go through that again. She didn't tell me if the baby was bloody, but I've wondered since. Had no reason to speculate about it at the time. I don't know what the pair lived like for about two years away from me.

 

When I got them back, I put the Rosy hen with a Rosy male and sold the Normal male. She hatched two eggs and when I checked, one baby was dead with its neck torn open. I took out the other and found a wound on it too. I hand fed that baby. With the next clutch, I checked daily and after four eggs hatched, the littlest had a wound on him. So, I removed and hand fed all four.

At that point, I removed the hen and gave the male a different hen. I believed he was the culprit and thought that would tell me. However, he and the new hen began raising healthy offspring and had many clutches without a problem.

Months later, the guilty hen began to hang her head oddly. Day by day it got worse and within a few days of that odd behavior, she died. Have to admit, I wasn't sorry to see her go. I've wondered if she had a brain tumor or something wrong with her. I still have two of her offspring, a brother and sister. They are both sweet birds and have raised many lovely Rosy Bourkes with their Rosy mates. I don't think the problem was genetic and wonder if that hen was driven crazy somehow in her former environment. Or, was there a health issue? No way to know.

Is there any chance that a rodent could get into the cage? The male would protect his mate, or try to. My cages have such narrow bars that nothing could get through, even if a mouse or something did get into the house. As much as I wanted to believe that a hen would not do that to her young, it was my hen...sounds like it's probably yours too. If your hen were mine, I'd be afraid to let her have another bird in a cage with her. Yet, she lived for 3 1/2 years with her mate ... really odd that she'd do that to him.

I've had other strange things happen with birds over the decades I've raised them. Below is a link to a blog I did about some of the "mean" birds I've encountered.

 

After you read the post below, especially about the feather pulling male Splendid, I should tell you that one of my Rosy Bourke males fed a sick Normal female all winter when she had something wrong with her. She must have had a stroke because all she could do was pull herself along the floor with her beak. He kept her fed and alive and she gradually recovered! Amazing. Only two toes remained paralyzed. That was my sweet Rhett bird. He'd lost Scarlett and I gave him Willow. After she recovered, I gave him a Rosy Bourke named Cherry. Cherry and Bing had not gotten along well, but Bing did fine with our Normal, Stella.

 

Sweet-natured, Normal Willow got Bing Jr. as a mate, a Normal split to Rosy, so they produced Rosy hens and Normal males.  Rhett and Willow never reproduced together, but each were good parents with their last mates. Loving Rhett had three hens in his lifetime and was kind to all of them. Cherry, on the other hand, was always bitchy ... poor Rhett. Scarlett and Willow were both nicer.

 

Problem Parents in several species of birds

 

Peace & Blessings.

 

Parakeet Leg Defect





Foot appears to work normally, but one leg
extends outward at an odd angle.





Our elderly Bourkes Rhett and Cherry's first clutch wasn't highly successful this year. She hatched four of five eggs, but two babies died early on...both with pink eyes. The baby below has something wrong with its leg. I don't believe there was any sort of injury. I suspect it happened in the shell. The leg extends outward instead of in a normal position. Yet, it can be manipulated into a normal position with no apparent distress or pain to the bird.

My husband feels we should remove Rhett and Cherry's nest box and call them retired. Typically, elderly birds quit breeding on their own and these two have gone on longer than expected.

Over the course of several days we made three attempts to pull his leg into a normal position. Every time the contraption came apart or came off. I suspect his mother may have helped remove it.

First attempt to keep leg in a normal position.
We used a strip of bandaid to avoid irritating the skin.

Second attempt with a rigid match stick between and
stronger tape in middle with bandaid tape over ankles.

Third and final attempt. Notice, he's a little older in this
photo than in previous ones. Duct tape over a match stick
with Duct tape over the bandaid tape underneath.

The baby bird never seemed to mind the attention he was being given. I've spent time holding him in my hand with his leg held in a normal position. I think he likes it. Given enough time, simply carrying him around and holding his leg next to his body might begin to allow him to keep it there. Sort of like a person's frozen shoulder, where you have to gradually force it back over time until it's back to normal.

I've never experienced this type of problem before, but Debbie wrote to us about a similar one in 2010. Here is a link to her message with photos of her bird:  Bird Leg Deformity 

Debbie, if you're still out there, please let us know how Scarlet grew up. Did her legs become normal over time?

He can grasp with both feet and if I hold his leg next to
his body, it will stay there. He seems happy and
content in this position.

I didn't expect this bird to leave the nest box on his/her own. I expected to take him out when his younger sibling left the box. However, today he left the nest box on his own and his younger sibling is still in it. The photos below were taken today.

Sitting on a perch one-legged. Flies pretty well too, considering.

Found him sitting in this seed cup. He seemed
comfortable there. Leg is not stretched out quite as far.

This little bird will either be a keeper or one to give away. He/she isn't one to sell, but neither will I put him/her down. Animals are amazing at coping with physical problems.

Peace & Blessings.

Bourke Parakeet Question and Answer



This is our smallest nest box. The others are larger.
Rosie is sitting on four eggs. She's very tame and
a very good mother. Possibly my favorite bird.

Carolyn writes:

"We have been gone on vacation for two weeks. Before we left, I candled the eggs. They all looked the same to my very untrained eye, and I was not sure if that meant they were all fertile, or all duds. So I broke one open and it was infertile. But I left the other four anyway, to give the mama bird something to do.

… we got home yesterday and found this little cutie! I am guessing he is a little less than 2 weeks old. He is mostly brown with pink on his chest, and then his blue britches. Pretty darned adorable!

 I threw the other eggs away. [Eggs help keep babies warm, so best not to remove them. However, if he's already feathered, removing them wouldn't do any harm].

...I am wondering how to make sure he doesn't hurt himself when he is ready to leave the nest box. The box is currently about 6 feet off the ground. When he is ready to leave, should I put it at ground level? The door is about 6 inches above the floor of the box, and has a perch on the inside and outside. Any idea about how long before they are normally ready to fly? Also, should I take the top off the box so he starts getting some light?  …this is our first baby bird."

Answer:

Congratulations Carolyn. Don't move the box or take the top off. Baby birds are used to being in the dark. Also drafts are not good for them. He's snug in his box. Better to leave well enough alone. You don't want to change something that will upset the parents. In nature, nothing is changed while they're raising young.

As for flying, he's not going to hurt himself when he leaves the box. Six feet isn't far even if he fell, but he will probably fly long before he hits the ground. Yet, if he did, his fall would be broken by the fluffiness of his feathers...he'd "glide" down. Birds are light weight and able to fall...even unfeathered babies are likely to survive a long fall. Six feet isn't far at all, so don't worry.

 

When he's getting close to leaving the box, you will hear him flapping his wings. They rehearse flying and strengthen their wings before they leave the box. He won't have any trouble reaching the opening...if his mother can get in and out, so can he. Young birds need to be capable of flying as soon as they leave their nest, or they'd be at risk from predators. After he leaves the nestbox, his father will take over much of his feeding. Young Bourkes need to be fed for two or more weeks after they've fledged (come out of nestbox) before they can fully eat on their own. Don't separate him from his parents until you know he's eating enough by himself (parents no longer feeding him).

 

After he's weaned, his parents are likely to go back and start another clutch pretty quickly. Once he’s out of the box, I suggest you clean the nest box and add fresh pine shavings in preparation.

 

Enjoy!

This is Sweetheart. He has a white face and pink eyes.
He was hand fed and is very tame. Looking for a mate
for him...hopefully a Lutino Bourke hen.

Splendid Parakeet Portraits, Scarlet-chested Neophema's

Rainbow, son of Merlin & Millet. Now our old Patriarch.

The flash reflects off their faces making them look turquoise
like their shoulders, however, their faces are actually a dark cobalt blue.

I love my birds and tend to cover much more about Bourkes than my Splendids. That’s probably because I have 22 Bourkes right now, 19 Rosies and 3 normal’s. No doubt that’s why I successfully raise more Rosies than Splendids, hmmm?

Yet, my clownish, very fun Splendids deserve attention too! I only have two hens, but have four male Splendids, all in their normal wild color.

Rainbow is the father of two of our other males, Flip and Rainbow Junior. Handsome Rudy came to us in a trade for one of Rainbow’s other sons in order to introduce genetic diversity.

Although Splendids don’t sing as lyrically as a Bourke parakeet, they do call back and forth to each other, especially the two bachelors who want mates of their own. Not an easy feat to find them though.

If you keep birds, you’ll find the colorful Splendids lots of fun. They love to tear up paper, play with toys and are crazy about swings! They like taking baths, and water cups are just another plaything for them.

 

  

You can see some of the shiny, dark cobalt blue of his
face under his beak. The wing color is correct, but their
faces are actually very dark blue, almost black.

Photos at right and below are of Rudy. Hole in nest box doesn't have to be so big. They adapt to various sizes.

They do like to put things in their water! Change their water dish at least once a day or more, and provide them with another source too. A tube of water on the side of a cage works well. It isn’t as likely to be splashed out. Keep an eye on it too, however, because it is likely they’ll make soup in the basin of it as well.

Here is a better depiction of a Splendid's true face color.

As an afterthought, here are other relevant photos, even though they've been posted in earlier articles.

These are young Splendids. Hen is below.
Males above do not have all their scarlet color yet.

Young Male Splendid with a young male Normal Bourke (in wild color).

Very young Splendids. Actually there are four males and
one hen in this cage, but their color hasn't come in yet.
At the time the photo was taken, I didn't know their sexes.
As they matured, the hen had to be removed as she was so outnumbered.



Young Splendid hen with her first egg.



May your Birds Bring You

Peace & Blessings

and Keep You Smiling!

Bathing Bourke Parakeets. David and Bathsheba?

Morning bath time ...  My husband arrived in the kitchen this morning at an opportune time to snap these photos.  Rosie and Pastel are two handfed youngsters we decided to keep. They enjoy bathing in the sink. There were three birds bathing, but Flame finished before my husband arrived, and decided to stay on my shoulder to watch the other two.

Thinking about it.

We have a Splendid who used to do this, but I've learned from experience that you need to continue to give your tame birds lots of attention. If you ignore them for too long, they become less tame. He no longer trusts me enough to bath in the sink on my hand. So, these birds usually come outside their cages about once a day, most often in the morning - our favorite time together.

If you do, I will.

How does it feel?



How's this pose? Happy now!




Ahh...just the way I like it. Nice of them to install
this sink in the island bar just for us!




The others don't know what they're missing!



Bourke Parakeets as Pets – Taming Parakeets

Young Bourkes tame down as easily as young Budgerigars. I’ve read accounts that even if they’ve been living in an aviary for a year, they will still tame down if handled properly. This is less likely with budgies. No matter what bird you get, the younger they are, the easier they will be to tame.

Each individual bird has a personality all its own, however, and variances in ability to tame them exists.

If your young Bourke was parent fed and weaned, it won’t be as immediately friendly as a bird that was hand fed by a person. Don’t let that stop you from attempting to tame the bird. When it first comes into your home, give it a few days to calm down and adapt. Speak softly to it through the cage. Allow it to get used to you and your voice. Spend only about 15 minutes working with it the first time you take it out. The timeframe can get gradually longer as the bird seems less frightened of you.

When you first attempt to tame the bird, you need to be in a safe, enclosed area. No window glass or mirrors should be present that the bird will assuredly fly into, possibly injuring itself. Read my earlier post on safety and preventing injuries. If the room can be darkened, that may help you, but what works best for budgies isn’t as effective with Bourkes that are used to being active in the evening when the light is dim.

The bird will be stressed and need rest after your attempts to tame it. Remember to keep the first sessions short. When the bird flies from you, retrieve it, but don’t grab it and get bitten. The best way is to put the back of your flat hand in front of the bird’s chest and slowly push upward forcing the bird to step up. Always talk softly in a friendly voice to the bird. Keep attempting this until the bird is tired and stops flying away from you. It is best not to let it rest between your attempts. It is necessary to follow it all around the room, retrieving it from curtain rods, chair backs, etc. It won’t step up at first, but eventually it will. When it does, continue talking softly to it, telling it what a good bird it is for standing on your hand. Over time you can use a single finger in this same way, but a flat hand at first is probably less frightening to the bird. When it’s on your hand, lift it up a few inches from your face, look it in the eyes, and speak with a smile in your voice. Birds are visual creatures and looking the bird in the eyes is something they relate to and expect when being communicated with.

Some people prefer to clip a bird’s wings so that it cannot fly away. You can do this and it won’t hurt the bird. The feathers eventually grow back. However, I don’t find it necessary to cut wing feathers. Even with their wings clipped, birds are still able to do some flying and often flop onto the floor…hopefully on a carpet and not tile. Also, it seems to me that birds whose wings are clipped will resent that treatment and not soon forget it. I want a tame bird that will honestly feel affection for me, so I avoid clipping wings.

Once your young Bourke is sitting on your finger, continue talking “sweetly” to it. Slowly walk it back to its cage and put your hand and the bird inside. It helps if you are fortunate to have a large cage door. Gently, press the bird’s perch against its chest until it steps off your hand and onto the perch.

With enough daily attention, you may one day have a Bourke who will fly to you when called and possibly even bathe on your hand as you hold it next to a small stream of water from your faucet. Be sure to frequently repeat its name so that it learns to recognize it.

Be certain there is always fresh, cool water available, especially after your Bourke has been flying around outside its cage. After your first few training sessions, your bird will be hot, tired and stressed.

Recognizing a Baby Budgie (Budgerigar Parakeet)

A friend asked me what inexpensive bird would make a good pet for her nine- year-old son. What could be less expensive, or more fun than a Budgerigar parakeet?

They are very domesticated and make wonderful pets, especially for children. They are hearty birds whose average lifespan is 6 to 8 years, although many live much longer. I had one white female who lived to be 12 and I’ve known some to live as long as 14 years, although that’s unusual.

Female Budgie

At pet shops in the USA Bourkes and Splendids can be $150 or more, whereas, a young budgie may be $15 to $25, making them a good first bird for children. A child should be able to handle the budgie and not be bitten, so you want a tame, friendly bird.

How can you ensure that will happen? Look for a very young Budgie. When very young, they tame down easily and will like being held. This post is to help you identify that baby. Let color influence you to some degree, but personality is more important.

Male Budgie

The photo to the left shows an adult female budgie. Her cere (nose or nostril) is brown. The budgie on the right with the blue cere is a male.

The budgie with an almost colorless, pinkish or white cere is the youngster. A black smudge across the beak like the one below has is also a good indication that it’s a baby. Not all babies have that black smudge, but if black is present on the beak, it’s a very young baby – a good sign! The black smudge will quickly subside. Notice, too, that the eyes on this baby are very dark and don’t show a ring around the iris. That’s another helpful clue. However, most important is the color of the cere…it should not be brown or blue. If it is, then the bird is an adult, or very close to it.

If there are other birds present, observe them. Babies will looks “soft” … Their feathers will appear fluffy … difficult to describe, but there is a slight difference in the appearance of a baby’s new feathers and that of an older bird.

Very young Budgie. Cere hasn't changed color yet.

Be sure the baby’s vent (under the tail) is dry. Budgerigars have nicely formed droppings that aren’t as “wet” as other birds. If the feathers under the vent are soiled, avoid the bird as it might be ill. Unless they’re sleeping, healthy birds are active and curious. A curious budgie is likely to make a better pet that will be highly interactive with humans.

Good luck! Budgies are sweet birds, easy to raise and maintain. There’s a reason they’ve been so popular for many centuries.

Search Amazon.com for budgerigar books

Upcoming Post: Intricately carved egg shells by Doris Bowman, from Cockatiel to Ostrich.