Budgerigar mimicry: lost Australian bird tells police his address

A pet budgerigar (budgie) missing in Japan recited his home address to the police (ABC News). The bird’s owner, a 64-year old woman said she taught the budgerigar her address after a previous pet bird flew away and was never found.

The two-year-old male bird escaped from his owner’s home in Sagamihara city in Kanagawa precinct, west of Tokyo, on Sunday, April 29, when the door of his cage was left open accidently. He flew into a room of a nearby hotel, and the citizen handed him to police. The police detained the budgie until its owner turned up at the station. However, a few days later, on Tuesday, the budgie started talking – it gave the police the name of the city, district, block, and street number of his owner’s location. The bird also told police his name: Piko-chan. So the police were able to return Piko-chan to his rightful home.

Budgerigars are small members of the parrot family and are native to dry, inland Australia. People throughout the world have kept budgies as pets. It is believed to be the most popular pet parrot in the world (www.birddealer.com) because it is intelligent, social, and easy to care for.

Budgerigars can be taught to speak and whistle. Both males and females can sing and learn to mimic sounds and words, but males are generally more proficient at mimicry, especially if they are the sole pet and if they are taught when very young. Males are believed to be able to acquire a vocabulary of up to a hundred words.

Budgerigars are a variety of colours, such as blue, white, violet, olive, green, yellow, albino, and multi-coloured. In the wild they are predominantly green and yellow with black markings. They lay about four to six eggs in the hollow of trees. They hatch after about eighteen days, with the chicks naked and blind. The young budgies grow feathers and can fly after about five weeks.

MARTINA NICOLLSis an international aid and development consultant, and the authorof:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom(2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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