by Robert Manvell
Feather, as the theory goes is a modified scale with a very long
history. It is put forward by Palaeontologists, the budgerigar
of today has prehistoric ancestors, meaning it has evolved from
some Dinosaur like creature. The reason for their conclusion is;
both scales on reptilian type creatures and feathers on birds
are formed subcutaneously (under the skin). Moreover when
feathers and scales fully emerge from the skin they are dead and
cease to grow any further, both are held in follicles which lie
beneath the skin.
Supposedly the common ancestor linking Birds and Reptiles is a
prehistoric creature that existed some 140 million years ago,
called Archaeopteryx. That’s a mouth full! It is the first
fossil which had scales along with feathers, the feathers
growing down the side of its long tail and its’ front legs
appeared to indicate early wing formation. Archaeopteryx could
not fly.
The above bit of history is very important to mention and take
note of, because our little friend the Budgerigar could have
been very different then, to the bird that exists in the wild
today. My thoughts in this regard were sort of legitimised when
it was pointed out by the Museum, the Budgerigar, Rosella and
Night Parrot all have common ancestors. DNA testing has
apparently validated this. The Wild Budgerigar therefore could
have been much bigger than it is today. It would have had a very
constant and rich food supply, it would not have had to fly the
long distances it does today, the climate would have been more
temperate with a less hostile temperature range and there would
have been an abundance of water. Maybe these points substantiate
my beliefs.
If the above theory is correct, then "have we seen the maximum
size our Exhibition birds can attain"? Maybe not, most of the
emphases of improving the exhibition bird has been put into
feather increase, because this is definitely the simplest route
over the short term. However over the long term, and probably
well past our life times, I think the dimensions of the actual
frame of the bird can be increased dramatically, even to the
size of its’ distant relatives. This has happened with many
other forms of livestock. Look, how far we have progressed with
Budgerigars over the past forty years. I have seen some truly
massive individual Budgerigars in my travels.
According to the Museum, they have recently found a cave at one
of their ‘dig’ sites, located in
The above was a remarkable find because the bird, being so small
and its bones so fragile, it would normally disintegrate long
before being frozen in time. Also Budgies were prime fodder for
the other inhabitants of the arid areas, which meant they would
not last long on the ground if dead, wounded or ill.
The wild Budgerigar is a real survivor being able to fly on
leaving the nest at about four weeks of age. If the wild bird
resembled our exhibition type budgerigars which take a while to
get airborne after leaving the nest, they would have been
gobbled up long before they had a chance to pass their genes on
for prosperity. Also the wild Budgerigar has an unbelievable
tolerance to salty water and can go without water for long
periods of time. Both of these traits are necessary in their
inhospitable environment. Again natural selection process,
survival of the fittest.
From the above information about our little friend the wild
budgie you can see it has remained almost constant for at least
four million years. All the domestic budgies we keep originated
from this wild stock. When you have four million years of
genetics working against you, it is understandable why
exhibition type improvement is so difficult. It would also
explain why when improvement is made it is so difficult to
maintain. Regardless of how good ones' stock is or how
experienced you are as a breeder, every season there seems to be
a few birds produced which resemble their wild cousins.
