I will add to Angie's post.
First off, I am against the sale of animals in stores. Nothing I have had join the family has ever been a store purchase. Mostly rescuers or an unwanted one.
Which brings me to our Budgie "Misfit".
Misfit was first noticed a few Mays ago. How strange but cool it was to have a Budgie flying around the backyard, dipping in the feeders. After a couple weeks of this, and talk to some friends, I thought it might be a good idea to bring her indoors since she's not fit for all seasons here in Canada. It took a couple weeks with a donated cage sitting outside, having Misfit go in and out of it when the feeders too busy. Mind you, some Red-wings and occasional Chickadee flew in and had a nibble of the Budgie fruit sticks and spray millet. So, one afternoon, Misfit is inside the cage having a nibble and I slowly walked up and shut the door on her. She was not happy about this.
I kept her inside over the next four days. She remained stressed and miserable. I hated seeing this little bird be like this.
Angie was not living with me at the time. And the weekend arrived, she was with me, and we talked about this sad Budgie in the kitchen. We were feeling guilty having this unhappy bird trapped in a cage. Being bird lovers, we know a bird is meant to fly and be free.
That afternoon, we took the cage outside, opened the door and Misfit flew away. Neither of us felt bad about the decision. She was really happy out there among the other birds. She knew her role among the others. House Sparrows were beneath her and she would beat up on them at the feeders, showing her dominance. She admired the Gold Finches. She feared the Red-wings, Grackles and Blue Jays. While the Red-wings and Grackles didn't bother her much except kick her off the feeder; the Blue Jays hated her, sensing she was truly foreign, and would chase her. Misfit would flee, screaming, with a Jay right on her tail. I believe if one did catch her, they probably would have killed her. I've seen Jays do some pretty bad things out back.
I vowed though that when Autumn arrived, if Misfit was still with us, I would bring her in and work with her... otherwise she would die within the first frost or soon after. That bird cage, which was suited for a Cockatiel, remained outside all Summer long. Misfit along with others mentioned above used the cage almost daily. So, Summer came to an end, I found myself on vacation for a week and made it my mission to bring her in. I don't know how many frosts a Budgie could withstand. While I hadn't bonded with Misfit, she was dear to me, seeing as we have a great story now.
The third day of my holiday, Misfit was in the cage snacking, and I just walked up and closed the door on her once again. This time though, she didn't put up as much of a fight. I brought her in and boy she looked rough and dirty. She was stressed and over the next number of days began pulling her chest feathers out. It took weeks for both her and I to get used to one another.
Angie was only interacting with Misfit on weekends but she quickly grew fond of the little feather-head.
We learned the music she really enjoyed. And over time we went from Misfit climbing up into a corner when we changed her food and water to sitting relaxed on her perch and allowing us to rub her belly.
Then, 5 days before her one year anniversary of living in the house... Misfit flew out the front door. See, her cage was too big for a Budgie and Misfit would squeeze herself through the bars to get out at her choice. The even funnier thing is that she would also squeeze herself back into the cage when done. I discovered she did this often while I was at work. So, when home, often the door was just left open. I took this for granted and one day when some guests were leaving, a few seconds too long at the front door, Misfit came flying out of the kitchen, through the living and out the door she went. We were heart broken.
To this day I still don't believe what happened next. We watched her fly out the front and figured that was it, she was gone. She was going to keep flying in that direction until who knows when. But she didn't. She went out the front and did a big half circle and went right to the backyard again.
The next two hours seemed like 2 days. The cage was outside, we were calling her, and she'd sit up in the cedars with a Goldfinch, jibber-jabbering about who knows what. She fly to a feeder, then leave, and do this over and over. But she never came close to us. At one point a Hawk flew in and everyone scattered. We watched Misfit fly north and figured that was it. Nope. Twenty looooooooooooooooooong minutes went by and she returned.
As I said, the longest two hours ever. We thought we'd never catch her. But, I figure her appetite got the best of her and she flew into her cage. I went up to it rather quick this time and shut the door. She raised no fuss this time. It was more like "Hiya daddy!"
She now has a nice big cage but with tighter bars. She is allowed out for fly time under strict supervision and nobody comes in or out of the house while this is going on. She really loves Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and sings loudly through their greatest hits. She has her own bedroom and really lets us know when she wants to go to bed. This decision of her's can be made in an instant... going from high tweets and ringing her bell (play time) to the "I want to go to bed" noises which are very distinguishable. Belly rubs for her every night before bed.
I really went on about Misfit here but it is a great story. Seriously! This bird was meant to be here, with us. How many Budgies do you know that get out of the house twice and end up back inside again?
So, while I am still not one for pet birds. This one is the exception. We do our best for her and give her what she needs as a bird, or what we feel. We believe she is quite happy with her surroundings now; but still not so sure about the house cat (who 99% of the time doesn't care about the bird).
Would I ever own a bird again? Only under a similar situation, rescuing one from certain death.
Misfit outside fighting with the gang of Sparrows. I think her name is quite suiting.
