Daphne joins the flock

After losing Ethel in April 2006, we realized that we really missed having budgie chatter in the house. In May, about 4 weeks after losing Ethel, we brought Daphne into our house. Daphne was supposed to be a breeder, but she loved people and didn't like other birds. Her dad is a champion English budgie and her mom is an American budgie.

In this picture, the right side of Daphne's face is orange due to the red palm oil and carrots that she eats for dinner!

Daphne is a total delight. She loves to play with toys. In this picture, she is by a wood dome, which is her favorite toy. Thomas made it as a prototype foraging toy for our larger birds, but none of them were interested in it. I placed it in Daphne's cage, and she loves it! She spends a long time every day spinning it around or just hanging out by it. We find it rather strange, but also quite endearing.

Daphne loves her foraging bucket. She goes into it and throws things out of it that are bigger than she is! She also loves chewing on some wood toys that were intended for larger parrots -- they last a lot longer in her cage!

Daphne is incredibly tame and friendly. She'll go to anyone, but perfers to be by Mary and Thomas. Many people think of budgies as throwaway pets because they are so inexpensive. Nothing could be further from the truth! A tame budgie is such a delight, and these guys deserve so much more than a small cage with few toys. I know I can never be without a budgie in my life!