Flight of the Budgerigar : An Illustrated History - Penny Olsen

Flight of the Budgerigar

An Illustrated History

By: Penny Olsen

Paperback | 1 October 2021

Sorry, we are not able to source the book you are looking for right now.

We did a search for other books with a similar title, however there were no matches. You can try selecting from a similar category, click on the author's name, or use the search box above to find your book.

The Budgerigar is arguably Australia’s best-known bird. At the same time, it is so ubiquitous that not everyone knows that it is Australian. Nor do many realise that the multicoloured bird that comes to mind not to mention today’s super-sized, extravagantly coiffed show budgie is as different from the free-living original as a chihuahua from a wolf.

Far from the cosy domestic lives our pet budgies live today, the native budgerigar has lived millennia of boom-bust cycles in the arid inland of Australia. Life was often short; if they were not fodder for predators, they starved or had to struggle their way to districts closer to the coast. For the Warlpiri and their Arrernte neighbours around Alice Springs, the Budgerigar (in its ancestral form) was a totem animal, featuring in art, ceremonies, songlines and legends.

Since 1840, when ornithologist John Gould took living specimens to London, this little parrot has been on a remarkable journey. The Budgerigar was Australia’s first mass export; its story includes British queens and nobles, Japanese princes and Hollywood stars. It has won the hearts of British spies and world leaders, including Churchill, Stalin and Kennedy.

Taking the reader from the Dreamtime to the colonial live bird trade, the competitive culture of the showroom and today’s thriving wild flocks, Flight of the Budgerigar is the authoritative history of the Budgerigar, written by respected ornithologist Dr Penny Olsen, and lavishly illustrated in full colour.

More in Birds & Ornithology

The Compact Australian Bird Guide - Jeff Davies

RRP $34.99

$33.25

Complete Guide to Australian Birds - George Adams

RRP $45.00

$37.25

17%
OFF
Australian Backyard Birds - Myke Mollard
Bird Bingo : Magma for Laurence King - Laurence King Publishing

RRP $49.99

$38.75

22%
OFF
Birds of Prey of Australia : Field Guide - Stephen Debus

RRP $44.99

$38.90

14%
OFF
Enchantment by Birds : a history of birdwatching in 22 species - Russell McGregor
Around the World in 50 Birds : 1000 Piece Jigsaw - Mike Unwin
Bird Minds : Cognition and Behaviour of Australian Native Birds - Gisela Kaplan
Capturing the Essence : Techniques for Bird Artists - William T. Cooper
Handbook of Bird Biology : Cornell Lab of Ornithology - Irby J. Lovette
Getting to Know the Birds in Your Neighbourhood : A Field Guide - Darryl Jones