Brand new to Otterbein, their diverse colors, loud chirps and active personalities have been the talk of the science building. Budgerigars , also known as budgies, have had their home in the aviary on the first floor in the front of the Science Building as of this past July.
Senior environmental science major Kelly McElroy said she has fallen in love with the budgies, which are native to Australia, since the first time she heard about the project. During her junior seminar class spring semester last year, McElroy took notice in biology and earth science professor Anna Young’s vocal research project with budgies.
Thinking it would be an interesting senior research project, McElroy, alongside senior biology major Marie Paquette and junior environmental science major Maura Breen, decided to assist Young in her latest budgie adventures.
Simply finding budgies that were bred in Ohio at a discounted rate was not an easy task. Usually the cost for each bird would be about $20 per bird at pet stores. They needed 40 budgies that were all male and all lived in the same area to provide the best living conditions.
“They are all males because the males actually fight less than females, and the males call more than the females,” McElroy said.
After weeks of searching through pet stores and local breeders, Young, McElroy and her peers finally came across a family that breeds budgies in Ohio. Arriving in July, the ladies went to work, taking the birds out of the boxes, tagging them, cutting their claws to a reasonable length and making sure that each one made it to the aviary healthy. Unfortunately, out of the 40 birds that came, one died a day after arrival.
“It was expected, with the stress of driving here, being kept in boxes on the drive, being put into a new environment, the clipping of the nails and all of that,” McElroy said. “We were as careful as possible of course, but just with all the stress. I think it was too much for him.”
Graduating in December, McElroy has been hard at work developing and planning out her senior year research project with the budgies. Following in Young’s footsteps, McElroy is continuing her study of vocal research, but taking it a step further.
“Budgerigars are able to learn new calls throughout their life, and there is no limit so what we are focusing on is the types of calls that they do,” McElroy said. “My project is specifically focusing on their contact calls, which is one of the calls that they do. I’m determining whether their calls have individual signatures and what that means basically is each bird has its own unique sound to the calls. I am seeing if that signature will be present in their other types of calls.”
Though she may not be around long enough to see all of the final results of her research project, McElroy is confident that these birds are finally feeling at home in the aviary and with Otterbein students.
“They have all been good since we have come here,” she said. “People are always sitting and watching them, coming and asking questions.You probably have some that are not fans, but from what I have heard a lot of people love them.”
