Discovered in 1770 by James Cook and his crew, and described in the journal as “beautiful birds of the parrot kind, such as lorryquets”, the budgerigar or budgie became famous in England when the naturalist and one of the greatest bird painters of all time John Gould brought the first live specimens to England, referring to them as the “most animated, cheerful little creatures you can possibly imagine”. Gould drew these exotic creatures in his “Birds of Australia”, noting that they were known as betcherrygah by natives of New South Wales. In his later portrait of Gould and his family, the painter Millais showed the ornithologist surrounds by budgerigars (The Ruling Passion).
Did you know that female budgerigars can pronounce up to 10 words but their male counterparts can pronounce up to 100? The record for the widest vocabulary among birds is held by Puck, the male budgerigar – 1728 words! Before he passed away in 1994 Puck’s achievements were noted in the Guinness Book of World Records. According to his owner Puck had a sense of humour, the ability to rhyme and a talent for communicating with people.
