Page 49 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #02

BUDGIE BLING

As if budgies weren’t brightly
coloured enough, certain parts of
their body also reflect UV light and
fluoresce in response to it. In the s uite of features that the small parakeet has evolved
o help it survive in one of the world’s most extreme
male, this includes the blue area to
e
around the nostrils (the cere), certain environments: the hot, dry deserts of central Australia.
feathers around the throat, and the When times are good and resources are plentiful,
wild budgies live in much smaller groups of 10–50
white downy chest plumage. With w est, preen and socialise with one another in the shade
UV: Albert Lleal/Minden Pictures/FLPA eyes containing special ultraviolet Th
irds. During the day, when the mercury rises, they
b
ultraviolet light making up 10 per
re
cent of the sun’s rays, and budgie
f the trees. They are most active during the early
o
morning, when they set out in search of sustenance.
m
sensing cells, it means there’s a
hey feed on the ground, picking fallen samphire seeds
whole extra layer of budgie bling that
rom the earth or standing on tip-toes to reach the
fr
humans just can’t see. Females are
Glow show: UV light
thought to use these cues as fitness
helps budgies to
signals to help guide mate choice.
attract a mate. se eeds of grasses or plants known as galvanised burrs.
G
GOING THE DISTANCE
O ften small groups of budgies come together to
sp
anned two
It was the culmination of a search that spanned two Above: an plunder the same resource. So thousands of birds can
pl
a
t
decades, but it was worth it. “It was the most fantastic Australian sometimes be seen feeding in the same place, but this
nature show I’ve ever seen,” Roland says, “a real once-in- goshawk plucks is not a super-flock – just a lot of hungry birds. Then,
an unfortunate
a-lifetime experience.” He sat with his camera as a super- when the food is exhausted, the birds split back into their
victim from the
flock of around 500,000 budgies wheeled all around him. crowd. A budgie original parties and move on.
The producers of BBC Two’s Wonders of the Monsoon, buffet such as this If they’re lucky, food will be found nearby. If not, the
which aired in 2014, didn’t take quite so long to find is a rare chance birds may be forced to travel thousands of kilometres in
to refuel during
and film a super-flock of their own, but they also search of water and seeds. In summer, they often head
harsh drought
reported that tracking it down was one of their toughest conditions, north to catch the monsoons, only to return south in
ever assignments. Part of the problem is that budgie and predators time for the winter rains. Indeed, one explanation of the
murmurations don’t happen as predictably as their must grab the budgerigar’s name is that it is derived from the Aboriginal
starling equivalent. During winter months, starlings opportunity word betcherrygah, or ‘good parakeet’, so-called because in
while it lasts.
murmurate at dusk before settling into large communal the past the birds led thirsty native Australians to water.
roosts. Although no guarantee of success, all a would- Opportunistic breeders, budgies synchronise their nest
be spectator has to do is head to one of their favoured building with the arrival of rain. Monogamous by nature,
locations at sunset, and look up. pairs build their nests in the nooks and crannies of trees
Australia is, however, 30 times larger than the UK, and fence posts, and in tiny holes in the ground. Females
and its wild budgies lead a nomadic life. They have no take one to two days to produce a clutch of three to eight
fixed abodes, reliable roost sites or defined migratory eggs, but incubation doesn’t start until the final egg is laid.
routes. These behavioural adaptations are among a It’s a strategy favoured by all parrots, which leads to the
BBC Wildlife 49