What is the strangest or most memorable thing someone has asked/said about your bird?

[DonnaBudgie]

Probably the weirdest question I've gotten is, "what's a budgie?" And I've gotten this question quite a few times, from different people. You would think everyone would at least know what a budgie is, considering that every Petco has them, but apparently not.
I've also been asked, "Why did you get budgies? They don't really do anything." which annoys me, because people just never seem to give budgies and other small parrots the credit they deserve. People also never seem to believe me when I tell them about all the tricks I've taught Sprite and Marshmallow to do. They just don't seem to get that small parrots are smart too.
Then of course I also get the usual, "Do they bite?" "Aren't you afraid they're going to fly away?" "Don't they just poop everywhere?" "Are they loud?" "You feed them things other than seeds? Is that healthy?" (referring to pellets and vegetables)"Why is their cage so big?" etc.

I really like that one- "don't they poop all over your house?". I never know quite what to say in response because, y
YES, THEY DO! Anything else would be a lie. But fortunately, Budgie poops are tiny, usually pretty dry, don't smell and clean up easily. If they're at my house visiting I tell them to just look around- and I ask "do you see lots of bird poops around" (they don't). I tell them I clean frequently but I did before I got my birds because people are far messier!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Get the usual, does it talk, does it bite.

Most of my relatives ask, strangely, is it an adult? Like is it gonna get any bigger? I guess in there mind there's only big parrots you know the big red one? And of course the blue and yellow, oh and then the green ones too.

I like that one too: "How big will he (a budgie) get?", like they're like trees that just keep growing and growing and growing! It would be kinda cool to have a Budgie grow slowly to the size of a Macaw or even an Amazon but pretty silly!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

whether it was during an outing with your bird or showing them pics or having them meet your bird, what is your story?

ill go first:

"why dont you set it free?" - someone on a social media platform after i posted a pic of him (this was an old follower of mine who knew where i was from as i was super open about it) so i had to explain that 1. he would freeze to death in an hour. and 2. captive bred birds cannot survive in the wild as they do not have the knowledge or capability to survive in the wild

"why is your cage so big? my grandma's cage for her parrot looks like this *insert the rustiest most god-awful round cage with a very miserable blue fronted amazon it it* and it's happy!" - a rando who stumbled onto my acc

"where are it's red cheeks?!" - my family friend.

"why dont you clip it? arent you afraid of it flying into a fan or window?" - also my family friend

"can i give it a chip?" - my best friend

and my absolute favorite

"what do you do if it poops on you?" - one of my friends

When my budgies first laid eggs and a family of budgies was a real possibility my elderly Mom told me "You should give one (or two) to your sister", which doesn't sound unreasonable unless you knew my sister. I love her to bits, but she's 63 (not old; I'm 60) but has never had any kind of pet, works a lot, travels a lot, hates messes, and has the attention span of a gnat! She has enough trouble watching my fids for a week on the rare occasion I travel, and can't even keep her outdoor bird feeders full! All I could say (to myself) was NO WAY!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I- "how do you know which one is singing?" wh-what?

Have you ever noticed how birds seem to throw their voices and barely move their beaks when "talking", and you almost can't tell exactly which direction its coming from? I have to admit sometimes it hard to tell which one of my budgies is making all the noise.

 

[Rico_Tiel]

Have you ever noticed how birds seem to throw their voices and barely move their beaks when "talking", and you almost can't tell exactly which direction its coming from? I have to admit sometimes it hard to tell which one of my budgies is making all the noise.

actually, no, I've never seen that! that's kinda interesting they can do that!

 

[Rico_Tiel]

And PINK (Major Mitchell's and Galahs)! And many with yellow-orange-salmon!

oh yeah, I almost forgot about them!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

actually, no, I've never seen that! that's kinda interesting they can do that!

Maybe the sound echoes around the room confusing my ears and brain.

 

[Rico_Tiel]

Maybe the sound echoes around the room confusing my ears and brain.

maybe! my room isn't all that big so it only echoes slightly if my vent is closed and I'm yelling with my bird and even then its more of a metallic reverb.