A Budgie Named Billie

Parakeet Progress Photos

Painted on Arches Cold Pressed 9 x 12 inches 140 lb Watercolor Block https://amzn.to/2If7sqE

Winsor & Newton watercolor paints https://amzn.to/3jZGPTT Colors used were French Ultramarine, Green Gold, Lamp Black, Winsor Lemon, Winsor Violet and Daniel Smith Phthalo Blue Green Shade

Billie came to a household with 5 kids. It didn't take long for him to become part of the family. He seemed to enjoy being out and about with us in the house. He was always curious about what we were doing, and loved being around water.

Billie was a smart fellow. He learned a few words and phrases. The usual things like 'hello', 'pretty bird' and a few other things I can't print here. He would also whistle at the pretty girls. He loved my Dad. When Dad was home, he went straight to him, snuggled up to his neck and seemed thoroughly content.

This bird was very observant. He spent a lot of his time out of the cage during the day. There were times you would forget that he was out and about, he had a way of being with us for awhile, then going off to sit on top of the clock or bookshelf to rest. I recall him not liking us taking naps for too long. He would come down to the pillow right next to your eyes, pecking away ever so softly to wake you up. You would shoo him off, but he would come right back until you finally gave up and got up. If he was awake, he wanted YOU to be awake.

He loved hanging out in the kitchen. That got to be a problem during dinner time so we would put him back in his cage. It was not long before he figured out how to open his cage door by watching the way we closed it. We would lift the door, drop it into place and hook the door shut. He did it in reverse order. He learned to lift UP on the door with his beak, unhook it and let it fall open. I swear that bird would saunter out in a victory strut. During times when we absolutely could not let him out (such as when visitors came) we would have to put a clothes pin on the door so he could not open it.

I learned there was once a species of Budgerigar (Parakeet) called the Carolina Parakeet native to the eastern, midwest, and plains states of the United States. Sadly, they have been extinct since 1939. Here is a link to information if you would like to learn more. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_parakeet

Painting this parakeet brought back lots of memories. I followed color advise from Louise De Masi and here is the reference photo that I used from Pixabay. It was taken by Andreas Lischka https://pixabay.com/photos/budgie-bird-parakeet-animals-2201256/ It is available for free download.

Happy Friday everyone!

Helen

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