BUDGERIGAR - WILD BUSH BUDGIE

this is the but few of us are familiar or no your it comes from it's true is the Outback of Australia birds have been kept as pets for thousands of years parrots are favourites because of their bright colors and chatty nature but of all the parrots one of the smallest the budgerigar has adapted best to life in captivity its affectionate and charming nature has captured people's hearts most people think of badges as caged birds but for every budgie behind bars there are thousands living free in the wild the Australian budgerigar is one of the world's most nomadic and social Birds they roam over most of the continent including some of the hottest and driest deserts budgies travel in flocks they can cruise at 90 kilometres an hour and have the endurance to cover vast areas in search of food and water budgies can survive weeks without water when they do drink it's quick they often drink on the wing because of the waterhole they're exposed to predators they have the ability to suck water rapidly in two to three seconds they gulp and go but not all birds are in such a hurry another sociable parrot of the outback is the korilla because Karelas are bigger than budgerigar they don't have to worry so much about birds of prey and can enjoy a leisurely drink about a quarter of Australia's birds are nomadic moving in response to the climate in a search for the best that the land can offer flock pigeons share the budgerigar roving and social nature such a clutter of birds at the waterhole brings out the hunters a whistling kite scans the mob or any slow individual in the vastness of Australia there will always be isolated patches where rain has fallen in their endless search for these pandering ours fly far although nomadic they are partly governed by the seasons in summer they're more likely to head north for the monsoons then return south for the winter roads the climate of arid Australia is one of the most erratic on earth years may pass with scarcely any rain at all when drought is severe and widespread life is such a struggle that young buggies wouldn't survive at times like these bandar-e gasps cease breeding to wait for the day the rains return one day breaks creek beds that have been dry sand for you become raging rivers in minutes not soaked up into the desert sands for ten years this part of Western Australia was vast dry Plains now it's a 2,500 square kilometer lake the result of flooding from one single ray we're going as we'll have a life for five nomadic water birds like fishline of years and within weeks waterbirds home in black swans fly thousands of kilometres from coastal estuaries to the center of the continent though let Gregory seems large it's only a tiny oasis in the immensity of the land for the budgies it's an opportunity not to be missed though budgerigar live in the desert they try to avoid its extremes they follow creek beds to find like Grigori everything they need is here the water will last for a long time and spinifex grass seed will provide food for months to come bungees arrived in flock after flock the zebra finch an Australian native bird is also a popular pet unlike badgering ours they need water often and with their whistles every hour or so zebra finches are one of the quickest birds in the world to breed after rain within hours of a good cloud burst they start mating and nest building budgerigar czar quick to follow and as soon inspecting trees for a good home the early birds get the hollows out of reach of predators home ground and there are also tricks budgerigar society is made up of loose colonies and there are no arguments over territory most suitable trees are occupied by more than one couple it's a competitive market for home seekers cockatiels are busy looking so too our tree Martins who like budgie sized apartments there's less competition from galas and pink cockatoos who prefer much larger homes with a nest established the Badger IGAs turn their attentions to each other the male tries to increase his chosen partner by regurgitating food this shows the potential as a crime then with hippo they begin tonight read quickly this is vital for the survival of the species and in captivity it makes them a favor domestic badges are not bred for survival they are bred for their looks experimenting with combinations of genes has produced an enormous variety of colors shapes and sizes some quite different to the wild form top birds are lovingly prepared for hotly contested budgie shows 362 page 3 yeah it's a long way from the bush many of the birds now winning awards in Australia have European ancestry a century of overseas breeding has produced a type that's almost twice the size of the wild budgie Australian breeders are now plain Zig money to import budgies best to their native lands what the judges look for in a show bird tidy colouring fluffiness large stature arched back long tail feathers big head and correct deportment qualities that humans think of crunchy chairs if trashing that's got to be returned in you get a classic and you've got a Noritake genocide I say it shortly exhibition bird's wing on looks with function running a very poor second a prized bhaji wouldn't be a winner in the wild here it's a different story the qualities that favour survival are the ones that matter leg grigory is an ideal environment for the tough bush bungees and they're making the most of it females are now producing their first clutch of about 4 to 6 eggs the mother stays on the nest brooding the eggs which start hatching in just under three weeks the male's role is to find food for the family their favorite is grass seed which they gobble to their crops of food the mother constantly looks after the newborn chicks only leaving the nest to receive food from her mate some females rarely venture out preferring to be fed in the safety of the hollow it's the chicks turn and their mother regurgitates food to them budgerigar zarnow at their most vulnerable they must attend their helpless young and predators are a constant threat the best hollows are high in the trees but they were the first to be occupied some birds had no choice but to nest near the ground Weimar pythons can easily find nests like these for every chick that's eaten thousands of others survive the instinct of budgerigar is to cheat death by creating an abundance of life this species survives through sheer weight of numbers so while conditions are good they breed as fast as they can badger Eagles lay eggs over a period of time so the chicks in one nest are all at different stages of growth parents can give liquid food to the very young and at the same time solids to the bigger ones older and bolder now juveniles peer from their dark birthplace into a bright world beyond childhood doesn't last long for a budgie at just three months of age they'll be old enough to breed parents soon become grandparents but they still keep popping out eggs the big day arrives for a young budgie at about four weeks chicks have grown tail and wing feathers and are technically ready to fly this may well be the most dangerous day in the life of a young budgie living in hollows there's no way they can test their wings to be sure they work for the first flight parents call to their young encouraging them to leave the nest after one last feed childhood comes to an end most budgies escaped attack but others plunge into different dangers this youngster lives to fly again another is not so fortunate death by drowning is a sad irony for a bird of the desert generation has been added to generation and there are now millions of badger e gars at Lake Grigory the seed is finished so they must now take the wings to search the desert for writing grasslands when they find what they're looking for wandering bands come together and what is one of the world's rare wildlife spectacles such a concentration of battery gars attract many different birds of prey black Falcons little Falcons spotted Harriers and little Eagles the flock is attacked from all directions eventually a little Falcon makes a kill it eats some of the carcass and will feed the rest to its chicks the strength of budgerigar society is the flock there are no leaders and no pecking order all budgies are equal when a flock is under attack it may seem out of control but there is purpose in this midair chaos the flock flies at 1:00 for the good of all while on the ground Rodriguez are easy targets for hunting birds but hundreds of thousands of eyes are on alert and as soon as danger threatens they take to the air the sheer numbers of badges that speed and aerobatic skills bewildered accreditors zeroing in on one target amongst a million is not easy and often they miss but a black falcon goes straight for the center of the mob this time it's successful although predators take some budgerigar they don't affect the population as a whole the real threats are unpredictable extremes of climate Oh you you

Channel: Content Mint

Views: 235,280

Keywords: budgerigar, budgie, parrakeet, pets, Parrot, Parakeet (Animal), Wildlife, Bird, footage, Nature

Id: HbA10sNEcw0

Length: 27min 4sec (1624 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 04 2013