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Beautiful Bourke’s Parakeet
The Bourke’s Parakeet is another bird native to Australia. These beauties are just a bit bigger than the Budgie. They are 7½” of which 3 ½” is comprised of tail and weigh in at 41-49 grams.
They are the only parrot or parakeet that has no green pigmentation in its natural colour. The ‘normal parakeet’ found in its natural habitat is brown on its back area from head to tail with a pink underbelly. Wing feathers can be scalloped with a creamy white to sometimes a pale yellow. They also sport a royal blue on their shoulders, outside flight feathers and tail. A streak of the same blue crosses the top of their eyes. The male will have blue feathers just above his cere. One of the most popular mutations of Bourke’s is better know as a Rosey Bourke’s that is dark to light pink in colour. My favourite is the normal because of the intense variety of colours that make the Bourke’s Parakeets the beautiful birds they are.
They are quiet in nature and a very gentle, genial little bird. They have a pleasant twitter mostly heard in the early morning and in the dusky hours of the evening. These are the times the Bourke’s are most active. They have large eyes for a small bird and see better than most parakeets at these hours of the day.
They enjoy a good budgie seed mix, hard boiled eggs, brown rice, veggies, apples, green leafy lettuces. They prefer veggies to fruit but I have found they will eat apples. They will eat pellets, too.
They need a large cage as these birds do enjoy their flight. They have a tendency to flit about and you can hear the softness of their wings in flight.
The Bourke’s parakeet is a nice alternative to a budgie in that they tend to be quieter. They may not be as cuddly be they do enjoy being with you on your shoulder. The quiet, friendly nature of these birds make them a great apartment pet or a good change for a senior who may find the constant chatter of a budgie too much.
Written by: Deb Brown
Charlie
Photo courtesy of Deb
Charlie is my pet Bourke’s Parakeet. He is about five or six years old now. I adopted him when he was two and a half. He is a delightful little bird, my bookkeeping buddy. He just keeps me company and when he is excited he hops up and down, twittering to me. It takes me longer to tally up the numbers but at least we are enjoying each others company and my most dreaded of all chores easier to contend with.
Deb
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