The ever-popular budgie is well-known worldwide as a talkative, trainable cagebird, but in Australia, their native country, they are seen in flocks as they fly in their hundreds throughout most of Australia. They inhabit grassland and scrubland, and are even seen in the suburbs. Many years ago, I told my father, who was visiting me from the UK, that we often saw small flocks of budgies in the Adelaide suburbs - and of course we did not see any while he was there. The day after he and my mother returned to England, a flock of about 50 briefly settled on the road in front of my house!
As pets, they come in many shades of blue, green and yellow, but in the wild they are green/yellow as other colours are the result of selective breeding. In the early morning and late afternoon the flocks will congregate at waterholes to drink, and feed on grass seeds during the day. In the heat of the day, like any bird they will seek shady trees to rest in. After good rains, which produce lush grass seeding, their population explodes. If you like the sound of one budgie chirrupping away, imagine the noise of hundreds in a flock!
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