Tell me about Bourkes as pets

No, not looking at getting one soon. My son has been asking for his own bird, he is extremely tender and responsible. Obviously, any bird "in his charge" would still %100 be mine also, and I would overlook and help him. I'm not one of those moms that will stick a cage in his room and say "go wild". Right now I keep him happy by letting him spend lots of time with Sparrow, and helping with the bird chores which he happily does. I'm going to give this time to make sure. Maybe for his next birthday, he will be nine next year.

We aren't really into budgies, and another cockatiel is likey out also. My son has allergies and while I don't think ours ever bothered him my husband said he thinks they did, we will see. Won't rule out a very tame tiel.

I remember reading Roz talking about how sweet and mellow bourkes are. Research left me with little indication as to their "pet" like nature.

Please don't grill me over allowing my son a pet, or assume I am not prepared, willing, or able to take charge and help him. Between you and me the bird will still be "mine".

D'AWW , that's all you need to know.

Okay, really though.

Tame Bourkes are sweet and mellow; they're birdie beings not birdie doings. They like to be with you, to the point that even one of our not-completely-tame breeder males will land on us if we walk by. Tame Bourkes like scritching, but are content to just sit there with you or on a playstand in the same room. They don't care to do a whole lot of exploring. They will wander around if you let them walk around on the floor, but if you park them on a playstand they'll generally stay there. A lot of times they'll just follow you if you let them wander.

Bourkes are not as acrobatic as conures - they don't do the whole monkey act hanging upside-down by a toe, they don't roll over onto their backs, stuff like that. They're not very destructive, and not only because of their size (meaning they won't actively seek out your wall molding and try their best to turn it into Swiss cheese).

Tame Bourkins are tolerant of grabbing, even if they're not psyched by it. If they're really used to being grabbed then they'll be fine with being carried around like a lady in King Kong's hand, and won't squirm or nip unless King Kong's got a death-grip going on. Nipping from a tame Bourke doesn't mean much - it is light enough that even for kids the worst case is that it will pinch a bit. If a Bourke for some reason does bite it can be enough to break skin and draw blood, although biting is extremely rare for a tame one in my experience (I've never been bitten by a tame Bourke.)

They're fine with being passed off to other people, even strangers. I've never seen one bite just because they don't like a person's vibe. Mine were the ultimate show and tell temperament because they would stand on anyone's finger willingly. In my opinion, they're perfect little kids' birds because of their tolerant disposition. My Chirpity once let a little girl (very little) yank her tail feathers out without biting the little hooligan (I'm proud to say that I wasn't the hooligan!)

I don't know how trainable they are.

Lifespan is said to be anywhere from 8 - 15 years. Mine both lived to 10 years old.

Thank you EC! That was extremely helpful. I think this may be something to look into when my son is a little older. It sounds like a perfect fit.

You're welcome! They really are good first time birds.

Awesome information EC! I have often wondered about them myself. The only reason I never got one was that I was not sure I would be able to interact with them. I have always seen them along the same lines as finches, great to look at but you cannot "play" with them. Glad to know I was wrong.

^They sound lovely, don't they? I like birds that like to kinda just "be" with the humans!

And they don't have any vocalizations that can be even remotely called a scream!

How perfect is that?!

^Very! Since he wants it in his room- we will see. This is all a year or so away. Right now he is satisfied with tending to our guys and playing with Sparrow. They sound like sweet little souls!

Be careful, Julsie with family is making massive attack for getting new birds Good luck!
And you guys(EC and Roz) soon gonna make me want one Burke too!

Well like I said, at the earliest it is still a year and a half away!

Margaret wrote:

And you guys(EC and Roz) soon gonna make me want one Burke too!

Richard and Josie will populate the world with 'zons, my mom will get everyone on conures, and I will fill the world with Bourkies. It'll be great!

Sorry to double-post, but I just realized:

RogerP wrote:

Awesome information EC! I have often wondered about them myself. The only reason I never got one was that I was not sure I would be able to interact with them. I have always seen them along the same lines as finches, great to look at but you cannot "play" with them. Glad to know I was wrong.

They are actually a lot like tame finches, just bigger! If you get a really super tame finch, it'll interact with you too! I've had more than one finch that followed me around and loved scritches. (Although you have to be careful scritching finches, since they're so easy to knock over )

evil chicken wrote:

If you get a really super tame finch, it'll interact with you too! I've had more than one finch that followed me around and loved scritches. (Although you have to be careful scritching finches, since they're so easy to knock over )

How exactly do you go about taming a finch!? I think the Lady Gouldian finches are absolutely stunning pieces of creation... like little microscopic pieces of art... if I could tame one I'd probably put it in my pocket and take it EVERYWHERE with me!!

LyzGrace wrote:

evil chicken wrote:

If you get a really super tame finch, it'll interact with you too! I've had more than one finch that followed me around and loved scritches. (Although you have to be careful scritching finches, since they're so easy to knock over )

How exactly do you go about taming a finch!? I think the Lady Gouldian finches are absolutely stunning pieces of creation... like little microscopic pieces of art... if I could tame one I'd probably put it in my pocket and take it EVERYWHERE with me!!

The easiest is to raise the finch yourself, so it won't ever learn to be flighty. Bring it with you practically everywhere you can, and have it constantly with you when you're at home. Held in your hand is really good. I've had multiple tame zebra finches and a cordon blue (whom I named Red ). Once they're tame, they don't "go wild" very easily. It might be possible to tame a finch, but I haven't tried it.

Finches - I hand feed those too. If they're taken from the parents after 10 days old, they're not very delicate to hand feed/hand raise. They just take a lot of time. Instead of tapering off feedings like a parrot, you have to feed a finch every 2-3 hours until weaned; so, a lot of effort.

EC's first tame finch would follow her around and it would "play" cards with us. Basically, he'd steal cards while we were playing.