Seven Pointers To Winning Potential

With its richness of colour and complexity of pattern, there’s a lot to think about in a quality exhibition budgie. FRED WRIGHT offers some personal views about the features to prioritise

- Fred Wright

WHAT makes a good budgie? It’s a question I’ve been discussing with a beginner looking to make his start in the hobby. It’s a huge subject, of course, and needs to be discussed in conjunction with the Budgerigar Society (BS) standard and scale of points.

1. Desirable qualities in the cap

The head and cap are probably the most important features to attract the judges’ attention. Our modern bird has a completely different cap to those years ago. Now the feathers over the head are fuller and longer. They radiate across the cap and over the eyes, but don’t actually grow into the eye. This has become a real attraction to exhibitors and judges.

It is generally called “directional feathering” in the cap. Judges and fanciers refer to “blow” – this is when the bird pushes the feathers on the cap forward as it relaxes and begins to display and show itself to the judge. It’s something that has become desirable; however, I am less enthusiastic about it when the feathers appear to open up and light can be seen between the feathers. I prefer to see the cap feathers pushed forward without allowing light to come through individual feathers.

2. Size