Our pet budgie died yesterday afternoon. I knew his time was near because he was showing the same signs our previous budgies did just before they passed and he was pretty old (for a budgie). Unlike our previous birds, this guy held on pretty long after displaying the initial signs. Perhaps he was able to last longer because this was our last of the once family of 5 and there were no other budgies to compete for food or territory in the cage. Or perhaps just because he was one stubborn bird.

I can’t remember if he hatched in 1997 or 1998, with his two siblings. If it was 1998, that would make him 11 years old. That’s not a bad run for a pet budgerigar. His father died after only 8 years, although we don’t know how old he was when we bought him. His mother and sister only lasted about 3 years each. His other sibling died only weeks after hatching, before we could determine its sex or get to know it. I wonder if it would have been more like its father or its mother. This one took more after his mother: cranky, stubborn, and didn’t like humans very much. Even so, I loved him a lot. He was an enjoyable little companion, if a bit on the noisy side. When he got too noisy, I’d just cover his cage with a thin blanket. It usually to calmed him.
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