Chapter 23

I don’t understand the urge to keep birds in cages. If you’ve watched birds as they fly through the sky, if you’ve watched them land on the highest branch of the tree, spiral up on the thermal of rising air - why would you want to cage them? I think the urge to cage a bird, is primitive, and not a nice one - jealousy towards a creature who can fly and you can’t – and a wish to possess a precious bright jewel.

We humans are full of emotions, some of them not so nice.

I’ve seen parakeets in cages, all my life. I’ve smiled when I’ve seen them and I’ve listened. However, a few years ago, I saw a special on Television on the animals [and birds] of Australia. To my thunderous amazement, I saw a HUGE flock of PARAKEETS flying through the sky!

This rocked my senses, and changed my perception of this small bird. I never thought about those beautiful, bright colored birds as anything but a small bird that you keep in prison, for your personal pleasure [and not his/hers].

Parakeets are small to medium-sized birds who generally have long-tail feathers -- in comparison to the rest of their body, understand?

The “Pet” Parakeet didn’t start out as pet. Their proper name is Budgerigar, or Budgie. They come from the drier parts of Australia and have lived in the neighboring islands, of Australia, for over 5 millions years.

Can you believe that, five million years! An older orthographic term, for the parakeet is “paroquet”.

However, I’d like to call them by their original name, Budgerigar! BUDGIE!

Seeing that special about Australia’s environment changed how I feel about those birds and the idea of caging a creature that is meant to fly! Do you hear me, there are HUGE FLOCKS of bright little budgies flying through the sky!

There is also a group of wild budgies in San Francisco, California. They are descendents of parakeets who were let free [abandoned] by their owners. There is a man in San Francisco, a homeless man, who’s made it his life’s work to take care of these wild bright jewels in San Francisco. There was a documentary done on this man, in the last ten years. It’s kind of cool, what he does. Makes me wish, I were there. I’d like to meet him.

If I kept a bird in my home, I’d probably have to let it fly, give it/him/her his own room. I can’t stand the idea of being “beauty’s jailer.”

I’d rather keep the Budgie in my heart as a symbol of hope -- for nature, and for beauty.