Budgerigar parakeets (or budgies) are small, beautiful birds from the parrot family. They're beloved pets in millions of homes, as they are easy to tame and provide delightful company. I have a great love of these birds, and have dedicated this part of my web page to detailing these wonderful creatures. I have done lots of research on budgies in biology texts, pet care books and even looked up historical accounts. I hope it was all worth it and you enjoy the work I've done.

Parakeets and People
Human Culture: Budgerigars existed all over the world at some time or another, though are now only indiginous to Australia. These birds were venerated by many ancient cultures. If fact, they are believed to have been the inspiration for the bloody excesses of these cultures (such as the Viking's annoying habit of raping and killing their neighbors, and the Aztec rituals in which priests sacrificed thousands). Obviously, these primitive people were emulating the bloodthirsty practices of these fell birds.
Theology: There's evidence of budgies in both the Old and New Testaments, so they apparently populated the Middle East at one time. In the Genesis story, the creature that tempted Eve with the Fruit of Knowledge is often considered to be a serpent. But close dissection of the Hebrew word for serpent, VHGKV, also can be translated as budgerigar: the Devil or "tempter." The case for the tempter as a parakeet becomes stronger when one considers that snakes can't talk but parakeets can, and Eve would probably run screaming from a snake (like all weakling females do), while she would "ooh" and "ah" at a cute little bird and take the time to listen to it. (Adam would, of course -- like any man when presented with another living creature -- kill it, thus saving billions of souls from being condemned to Hell.) Also, another obvious reference to parakeets:

Revelations 18:2
"And he [an angel of the Lord] cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great has fallen, is fallen, and has become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and the cage of every unclean and hateful bird."

Biology and Habitat
Diet: Parakeets are omnivorous creatures. They'll eat seed and fruit, but only if fresh red meat is unavailable. Flocks of budgies have been known to swarm pets and small children to get meat, stripping them to the bones in less than an hour. Because of this, they are often called "piranha of the sky" among some primitive South American Indian tribes. When prey is scarce, they'll even try to devour each other (see picture below).
Parakeets also feed on the willpower of humans, and delight in turning them into loyal slaves who feed them, clean their cages and shower them with adoration while getting nothing in return. (Cats have also displayed this peculiar mind-sapping ability, and often attack parakeets not to obtain food -- as widely believed -- but to eliminate competition for the owner's soul.)
Activity Cycle: Budgerigars are diurnal creatures, meaning they operate during the day. The reason for this is that they absorb sunlight through photosynthesis, giving them energy.
Reproduction: Individual parakeets have both female and male reproductive organs, and reproduce by pollenating each other via spores and then budding. The bud appears as an unsightly lump on the budgie's back, which will develop eyes, a beak and eventually wings and legs over the course of a month. Once the bud's internal organs are fully developed, it splits from the parent's body and becomes a new parakeet.

Parakeet Society and Ecology
Natural Predators: Any carnivore. To the parakeet's mind, anything that moves. I've seen the little bastards run from crickets. Also, to them, that flashlight spot on the ceiling I chase them with is, in what passes for their minds, a predator. This is due to the fact there's no shortage of white, disc-shaped, flying predators in their native habitats.
Parakeet Intelligence: Budgies are at least intelligent enough to outwit the fruit and seeds they hunt.
Parakeet Society: Parakeets have a complex and hierarchial society that we're only beginning to understand. Flocks range from fifteen to up to twenty members, but several flocks usually band together to form hives. Hives can have two hundred members or more, and have a rigid pecking order. They have a council that makes decisions for the rest of the hive, and parakeets elect officials to the council; there will usually be one council member for every twenty or so budgies in the hive. The council does things such as allocate resources for public works, resolve territory disputes, debate issues such as sustainable economies versus short term profit, and to decide how best to serve the cause of Evil that day.
Hive leaders rise to leadership positions through a combination of ruthlessness, political acumen and the accumulation of human fingers (used as currency among parakeets).