British Pathe - Budgerigar Garden (1956)

For this month's British Pathé post, we have a very short film clip of Mrs. Rosemary Upton and her budgerigar garden in Margaretting, Essex. Mrs. Upton bred budgerigars and was courageous enough to add a flap to her aviary to let the little fellows get some free-fly time. 

Seeing her walk around hunting for the stray budgies reminded me of our own dear little budgie "Gigi" who twice escaped from her cage and flew loose in our neighborhood. I sent my dad after her with a butterfly net and was so glad when he managed to catch her in the backyard of a neighbor several houses away from ours. From then on, I always double-checked to make sure the door was closed on her cage before taking her outside with me. 

Budgerigars are an Australian species of parakeet, cute as a button. They became extremely popular pet birds all over Europe, the UK, and in the States. Our local drugstore used to stock them for only $5 a piece, but now they tend to sell at pet stores for $40 each.... still a great price for a wonderful little bird. 

In this British Pathé clip, Mrs. Upton has a fine collection of varied colored budgeriars. I wasn't able to find any follow-up information about this woman and her aviary in Essex but I hope she kept it running for many years. Be sure to check out the links below to see other videos featuring these feathered beauties.

Ready to watch Budgerigar Garden (1956)? Simply click on this link. 

Similarly themed British Pathe shorts:

Budgies Beauty Parlor (1958) - 1:33 sec

Looking After Baby Budgies (1963) - 0:54 sec

Budgerigars (1967) - 2:44 sec