When I was little, my parents had two budgies, Jimmy and Jenny. Jenny couldn't fly but was very tame to the point we kids could walk outside with her on our shoulder. We had a nesting box and a number of broods which included, Sparky, my budgie!

The birds were allowed to fly freely around the living room but went into their cage every night.

During the day they'd perch on the picture rail and nibble the wallpaper or perform gymnastics on the mirror engaging with their reflected selves!

When we ate our dinner at the table the birds would fly down and delighted us kids by paddling in the gravy and eating our mashed potato!

They liked sitting on our shoulders and would 'preen' our hair and nibble our ears. So delightful!

I doubt youngsters today would want a budgie as a pet but they're so entertaining and great companions. You can even teach them to talk, but I believe only the males, and it needs to be a solitary bird.

If I had a budgie today I wouldn't leave it stuck in its cage all day: I'd want it to be free like our childhood birds!

When my parents were older they found a budgie flying outside and my dad captured it. He built an aviary in his back porch (Queniborough) and found the little bird a mate.

My parents went on to have a couple of budgie broods which my kids were lucky enough to enjoy, and I have video footage of my daughter as a little girl talking to the baby birds in a basket as my dad cleaned out the nesting box!

What memories!

Does anyone else have memories of budgies?!

Read some of the other memories from Budgie Lovers below....

Dean

That’s an amazing coincidence Julia. We had a budgie called Sparky when I was small. We also had one called Yasha. X

Julia
@Dean I just knew we were connected!! 
No wonder you're interested in bird life! We both came from an avian background!!

Dean
You speak for yourself, I’m not from an Alien backgroundx 

Tina
we had budgies one was called scooby & the other scoobydoo

Nadine
 One of my nans used to have budgies - I remember a blue one, and a green one but not their names sadly. She used to have one of the cages that hung from a high stand but they were allowed to fly around aswell

Julia 
@ Nadine  I love to see them fly free!

Jane  
Yes my dad had them over the years and successfully taught one to talk. He had an accident at work and spent lots of time during his recovery teaching "Joey" to talk! Happy days

Julia 
 @Jane  ours used to love a bath but everyone and everything got wet!
Such characters!
It's lovely your dad taught yours to talk! Ours would only 'chunter'!

Jane
@Julia  I remember bath time! They love it  

Lynn 

Lovely story. I hate seeing birds in cages 24/7. At ur birds had freedom and a nice life

Tracey 
 I have two budgies,Samson and Delilah and they fly freely and go back into cage when it gets dark, Samson sings to EastEnders tune xx

Julia
@Tracey  love it!!!

Tracy

Ann 
 Our budgie Peter used to sit on the end of my mum’s needle when she was knitting. He used to flap his wings so he didn’t fall off. He also sat on my dad’s glasses when he was reading and nibble his ear. It was hilarious. @margaret m ward

Julia
@Ann  our budgies sat on my mum's knitting needles too! I'd forgotten about that!!!
I used to love having my hair preened and ears nibbled! So gentle!

Angie
I remember those days!

Angie 
 Thank you for enabling me to recall some memories of my Dad, at this time especially, as he passed away 12 months ago next week.
The memories of my Dad walking up the garden with our budgie on his shoulder, telling the budgie off for paddling in his gravy and the budgie sitting on the top of the newspaper nibbling his away along, as my dad tried to read it, are from a long time ago but lovely to revisit.

Julia
@Angie  you've ignited more of my memories!!! The newspaper.......! Not one got away without being nibbled! Books too

Julia
@Angie  I think it's so important to revisit our memories, especially through difficult times such as these! They bring comfort!
I lost my dad in 2011 and think of him and my mum every day. She died a few weeks after dad.

I bet you'll be thinking of lots of other happy memories today! I know I shall!
My dad was so gentle with our birds, especially the babies, and I can hear him talking to our birds in his 'special' way. We called it 'chuntering'!!
Have a good day, and keep safe!

Angie
@Julia  Thank you. My Dad later, after i had left home, bred and showed canaries. Which he was very proud of. Do people still have budgies have pets?
Yes it is nice to think about our family memories in these strange times xx

Julia
@Angie  I still see them for sale in the pet shops so I guess they do! As people were at home more years ago they had time to look after them. Today it's all rush, rush, rush! Their loss! 

Deb 
 We had one called Freddie then later we had Joey. They both had lots of flying time. We taught Freddie to skip with some of my mums wool and when we were playing records he would sit on the record and whizz round then jump over the arm.

Julia
@Deb  that's so funny! He obviously enjoyed himself!

Rebecca 
We had a yellow and green budgie called Joey and my grandparents had a blue one called Bobby

Jane 
We had a few budgies over the years, all called Timmy, I remember coming home from School and our first budgie had changed from blue to green, my mum told me that happens sometimes, I was so young and naive that I believed her, this happened a few times over the years, it wasn’t until I was older that I knew that they had died and Mum replaced them so as not to upset us...

Janice
My mum had them one of them used to sit on her breakfast bowl and eat her porridge and one day it fell in the bowl, poor thing almost pulled out all its feathers trying to get it out

Sheila 
I had budgie called lucky who flew free, had phone in hall if rg he would get there before me and would say hello whoever was on phone. Shoes with shoelaces he would undo.

Kristina 
I must have been about 8 when my Dad took me somewhere off Abbey Lane to choose a budgie. There were blue, green and even a purple one there. For some reason Dad made the choice for me and we had a green one. We took him home in a box and gently placed him in his cage. I called him Timmy. For the first few days he was timid and very quiet, then one morning he started to chatter to himself in his mirror. After that there was no stopping him. We had to make sure all the doors and windows were closed and started to let him fly freely around the house. Timmy was such fun to be around. He used to play with in the dolls' house, sit in a toy car (similar to a Sindy car) and generally join in with whatever was going on. He could chunter in budgie, and knew a few words such as hello and naughty boy. In the summer he had his own bath which he loved and sometimes Mum would hang his cage on the wash line outside if the weather was warm enough. His only annoying trait was squawking in reply to some of the TV ads. then it was an early bedtime for him. The cover went over his cage to calm him down. He lived with us for nearly 9 years when he passed away. Thank you so much for allowing me to recall those wonderful memories. As already said unless you have had a budgie which was allowed to become part of the family you cannot know what joy such a little bird can give.

Julia
@Kristina  those are such wonderful memories!!
My mum would put our budgies cage outside in the garden too and they loved chattering to and watching the wild birds!! Sharing their millet was quite common!
We'd also pick groundsel and hang it in the cage. They loved eating that, and don't get me started on hanging a wet lettuce leaf in the cage!!!! They'd writhe in ecstasy trying to have a bath on it!!! So funny! We'd have to get their bath out then so they could have a proper wash!!
Happy days!!

Kristina 
After seeing what I had written about my budgie Timmy. My husband decided to tell me about Twiggy his budgie. Twiggy was grey in colour and enjoyed sitting on a mirror and talk to himself. He also like to play with a ping pong ball which he pushed along the floor with his beak. When it was bath time he had his own bath which was attached to the side of the cage. He loved to play in his bath and splash about. However mother was not too keen when he used to cling to the flock wall paper and chew it. Getting him back into the cage at night was a challenge. He knew it was his bedtime so he went to the highest point in the room. The top of the curtains and look down at everyone.

Julia
@Kristina  haha! What a rascal!
They really are such clever and fun loving birds!!
Thank you so much for sharing yours and your husband's memories!!

Jane 
We had a budgie called Charleys who my Mum taught to talk. He was allowed out regularly and sometimes flew outside and back in again when Mum called it. Until the day it flew up the chimney, yes we had a fire and he came back a bit black disheffled. But after that he would just sit on our shoulders and didn't fly about much.

Julia
@Jane  oh dear! Charley lost his confidence!!
We had to be careful when we had a fire too as the birds were drawn to it. We had a few close shaves but didn't lose a budgie!!

Jeanette 
Growing up we had a budgie called Jimmy and a canary called joey never came out of cages to fly around room like some houses did.

Julia
@Jeanette, you probably kept your wallpaper intact!!

Jeanette   
@Julia  yes no damage to wallpaper.

Sal 

We had a budgie called Mickey he could talk, if you put him in his cage he make Noise loud cos he didn't like it, used to eat potato too and salt. He had a shower under the kitchen tap all the time loved it, always on my Dad's shoulder he just to get on the car for work and the budgie would whistle in his ear?

Julia
@Sal . how sweet! Mickey sounds a real character!
Our budgies would try to take food from our mouth when we were eating! We loved it! So cheeky!

Yvonne   
My gran had a budgie that would dive bomb my dad as soon as he walked into the house. Dad really hated that bird.
He was the only person he would do it to. We kids thought it was really funny.

Helen
Have loved reading your stories. I have inherited my Dads budgie he's called Billie Boy. My Dad died in May.

Ronnie     

My Nans budgie flew out of the window, that she forgot to shut, never to be seen again.

Julia
@Ronnie I hope someone found him! Sadly, it happens, but I've heard so many stories about birds being found, maybe he did find a new home!

Ronnie
@Julia Thank you, we do too.
My nan was ever so upset. xx

Ann
My mums budgie used to turn the playing cards over & if she ignored him he then chucked them off the table .

Juliet
Had quite a few Julia in my time. All were brilliant talkers and tame. They get the tone of the voices right too.
Also had a cockateil. He pulled his feathers out except those he couldnt reach on his head!
Gave him loads of toys to amuse him as the vet suggested he might need a mate. He was tame and sat on my shoulder
as I did my housework but if he went flying round the room he could only go round in a circle as he hadnt the required
tail feathers!!! Gave him a full check up at the vet.. .nails clipped etc. Cost quite a bit then he pegged out the next
day. ..my husband was not impressed!!!! Lol xx

Julia
@Juliet haha! I'm so sorry for laughing!!
Pets do that sometimes, don't they!!
My brother still has a bird but a cockateil, called Rasputin. He's had him for many years, must be 20 or more, and in spite of various heath problems, he still keeps going! (that's Rasputin, not my brother! )

Juliet
@Julia That's so funny too xx

Carole
Yes we had a budgie called Pip!! My dad loved him and he let Pip out into our living room quite often. And Pip
talked, he mimicked my Dad! Pip would answer questions too!!!!
My mum would say to him “Where’s Carole? and Pip answered “gone to school”
Dad would say, “ where’s Stuart? And our lovely budgie would reply. “ Gone to cubs”.
We all loved this budgie and would enjoy the entertain meant when he was let out of his cage.
He would fly all over our living room , settling in the picture rail. When my dad told him to “ go back in
your cage” Pip would fly back to his cage and sit on the top until dad opened the door and than this
lovely bird would hop back in. If we had visitors this bird would be the entertain meant, everyone loved him.

Julia
@Carole what lovely memories! Pip was certainly a much loved family member, and very clever to boot!

Debbie/Steve
We found a budgie flew on to the tree in our front so I was a kid then I got my dad to catch it it was a blue
green with yellow bits we called it susie had it for years.

Julia
@Debbie/Steve it's amazing how many people caught their budgie!!
I guess back then many people kept them and also let them fly free. Being tame they were probably happy to be caught!?
It's great you gave yours a new home!

Paul

We had one that landed in my dad's porridge had to wash him under the tap!!

Julia
Paul, your dad or the budgie??