How Do You Catch Dozens of Budgies?

Because you asked ... How DO we move dozens of budgies from the Budgie Encounter to their winter home?

Labor Day is historically the day we close our Budgie Encounter exhibit for the season due to the fact that nighttime temperatures in Wisconsin's Northwoods are too cold for our friendly and brightly colored budgies.

Their latin name is budgeriar however they are more commonly known as pet or shell parakeet: but everyone knowns them simply as the budgie.

These small, long-tailed, seed-eating parrots are the only species in this genus that can be found throughout the arid parts of Australia.

So how do we move them to their off-season home? Quite simply, it takes a couple of people only a few hours to use nets specifically designed to humanely capture birds so they can be relocated to the winter housing.

Budgies are closely related to the fig parrot; a parakeet is a term that refers to any of a number of small parrots with a long, flat and tapered tail.

Badgerigars or budgies are naturally green in color and yellow with black and have scalloped markings on the neck, back and wings. Cage bred budgies are larger in size than ones found in the wild, and selective breeding by breeders over the years have caused changes in colors. Blues, whites, yellows, greys and even some with crests.

Budgies are popular pets worldwide due to their small size and ability to mimic human speech. The species were first recorded in 1805 and today is the third most popular pet in the world.

Another Addition To The Wildwood Wildlife Park Nursery: Bennett's Wallaby

It may be cold and snowy outside but inside Wildwood Wildlife Park, even the return of winter can’t dampen the excitement surrounding our newest addition to the nursery: Reeka, a Bennett’s Wallaby also known as the Red-necked Wallaby.

Wallaby’s and kangaroos are part of the marsupial family. Young wallabies are known as “joeys”, like many other marsupials. Adult male wallabies are referred to as “bucks” while adult female wallabies are knowns as “does.”

The Red-necked Wallaby can be distinguished from other wallabies by its white cheek markings, the red coloring on the neck and by their black nose and paws. . The rest of the Red-necked Wallaby’s body fur is colored grey to red with a white or pale grey abdomen. Their muzzle, paws and toes are black in color.

Wallabies are herbivores whose diet consists of grasses, roots, vegetables and tree leaves. Red-necked wallabies are mainly solitary but will gather together when there is an abundance of resources such as food, water or shelter. Red-necked Wallabies are mainly nocturnal; they spend most of the daytime resting.

Red-necked Wallabies are found in coastal forests throughout the coastal and highland are of eastern Australia. 

Wallabies, like all marsupials, are pouched mammals. A female bears one offspring at a time; the baby stays in the pouch for about 280 days. The pouch acts as a warm, safe place where the joey grows.

Map of Australia and Joey-Face-In-Pouch Photo Source: Wikipedia

Budgie Parakeet Encounter Will Be Closing For Season September 5th

Our Budgie Parakeet Encounter has quickly become one of the favorite attractions of our guests. Thank you to everyone who has come to the zoo and enjoyed the Budgie Parakeet Encounter; one of the many opportunities guests have to get up close and personal with the animals.

The Budgie Parakeet Encounter will close for the season on September 5th but you still have a few days to come out to the zoo and enjoy all the animals.

September 6th will begin our daily Fall Park Hours: 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

See you soon!

Parakeet Budgie Encounter: Wildwood's Newest Attraction Is A Hit With Our Guests! Opens May 30th

These cute and popular birds are instantly recognizable as parakeets or budgies. Their formal name is the Budgerigar or Shell Parakeet. Whatever you call them, we know them as one of the park's many popular residents.

These small, long-tailed parrots are seed eaters. Wild parakeets are found living throughout the drier parts of Australia and are noticeably smaller than those found in captivity. Naturally green and yellow with black, scalloped markings on the nape, back and wings, breeders have created a rainbow of blues, whites, violets and yellows, grays and even some with small crests. Budgies are popular pets around the world due to their small size, playful nature and their ability to learn to whistle tunes, mimic human speech and learn to do tricks.

Budgies are closely related to the lories and fig parrots but here in America, we call them parakeets; a term that refers to any number of small parrots with long, flat tails.

Budgies are intelligent and very social animals; they enjoy playing with toys and interacting with humans as well as other parakeets.

It is usually easy to tell the difference between a male and a female budgie that is over six months old, mainly by the color of the area containing the nostrils called the cere. Behavior and head shape will also help you tell the difference.

A mature males' cere is usually light to dark blue but can be purplish to pink in some birds. Males generally have a rounder head and are very vocal.

Females' ceres are pink as immature birds; becoming beige to white when they are not in the breeding season, brown during mating season. Typically female parakeets have a flattened back of the head, right above the region of the nape.

You won't want to miss our newest popular attraction, The  Parakeet Budgie Encounter, a walk-through aviary where you can experience up close and personal, the beauty of over 500 parakeets. You can buy a “bird feed stick” for $1 and have parakeets eating right out of your hand.

Visitors agree, the Parakeet Budgie Encounter is one of their new favorite experiences at the zoo!