How to Care for a Bourke Parakeet

Bourke parakeets (Neopsephotus bourkii) make colorful and charming pets like their better-known budgerigar cousins in the Australian grass parakeet family of birds. Hardy, friendly and peaceful, Bourke's suit novice keepers of cage birds as well as add variety to experienced keepers' collections. Their requirements are not complicated, but everyday attention to their simple needs is necessary. With good care, they will brighten up a home for about 15 years.

Things You'll Need

  • Cage
  • Perches
  • Seed containers
  • Water container
  • Clips/clothespins
  • Parakeet seed mix
  • Fresh greens
  • Fresh fruit/vegetables
  • Multigrain bread
  • Cuttlebone
  • Vitamin and mineral supplement
  • Newspapers or ground cob
  • Blanket or cave cover
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Instructions

    • 1

      Purchase or build the largest cage you can afford and accommodate. More room equals more exercise, which makes for vigorous, healthy birds. Make sure the spaces between cage bars or wire mesh are small enough not to trap a bird's head or wing and cause injury. If housing birds in outside aviaries, provide wooden boxes or an inside area to provide shelter from rain and wind.

    • 2
      Natural branches make good perches in cages and aviaries.

      Cut natural wood twigs to lengths that fit at least two locations in the cage for attractive, inexpensive perches. Or buy wooden dowel-type perches at a pet store for straight, uniform lengths. Position them in the cage to allow some room for birds to fly and to flap their wings while perched.

    • 3

      Position seed cups, water dispensers and bowls of fresh food so that the birds do not defecate into them from perches above. Clip fresh greens to cage bars or mesh near perches with clothespins or other clips. Provide fresh food and water every morning.

    • 4
      Parakeets enjoy fresh mixed greens.

      Supply Bourkes with a variety of food beyond parakeet seed mix. Offer fresh greens such as chickweed and spinach plus pieces of fruit, vegetables and multigrain bread. Provide a wide selection even if the birds do not seem to eat everything. Attach a cuttlebone to the cage bars for access to calcium and a mineral block for necessary minerals for the Bourke's diet. Sprinkle powdered vitamin supplements for birds over fresh foods occasionally.

    • 5

      Make shade and warmth available in outside aviaries as the season dictates. Extremes in temperature stress birds. Inside, regulate the bird's room temperature with a small, safe heater. A blanket or special cage cover serves to block drafts and retain a more even cage temperature when draped over the top, back and a side or two as needed --- especially at night.

    • 6

      Cover the cage or aviary floor with newspapers, plain paper towels or commercially available ground cob or other absorbent, safe, nontoxic material to soak up Bourke parakeet droppings. Replace the floor covering daily to avoid mold.