The Present Prices of Budgerigars. By Robert Manvell  Return to Main Page     Return to Articles page

Many fanciers whinge about the price of birds. Or claim Budgies are a hobby to them and they will not pay or can not afford high prices. There is nothing wrong with that, it is the individuals own decision. However these people should not shun others who look upon their hobby from a different perspective and thus are prepared to speculate on higher priced stock.

The suppliers of seed, hardware, wire, medication, Books and Magazines, Aviary appliances, Club memberships and other related paraphernalia are all making money either directly or indirectly from the fancy. These costs continue to escalate and in some cases dramatically. Justifiably if you are in a position to recoup some or all of your budgie expenses, because of the demand for your birds, then why not? If one was in that position one would be fool not too do so, don’t you think? Perhaps some of the whingers are resentful because they don’t have the ability to put themselves in such a position.

At the end of the day it is always the purchaser who sets the market price. If someone pays top dollar for a bird, there is only one person to blame and that’s the buyer every time. No one holds a gun to anybodies head and says you have to buy. Do they? Unfortunately, many fanciers have more money than sense and do not think before they buy. This allows some breeders to wrongly get top dollar for their birds by praying on the gullible or inexperienced. Plus I’m sure some people buy birds just for the sake of it, with no logical or definite reason for purchasing in mind.

Another problem or trap for the inexperienced is that there is no, correlation between price and quality when it comes to purchasing stock. This is especially true when dealing with past ‘big names’ of the hobby. I believe that a person is only as successful as their recent results would imply not results that are ancient history. Because of this situation, I do not envy the position many beginners find themselves in today. Climbing the ladder can be a very hard, costly slog for some. That is of course if they make any progress at all with their purchases. Newcomers need to be very careful they do not become victims of their own inexperience or the unscrupulous behaviour of others.

The better the stud or bloodline the more you have to pay for birds. As the years roll on most good breeders are becoming more astute and realise what their stock is really worth. Therefore bargains are increasingly harder to come by. If you want good stock birds within reason you must expect to pay for them. The quality of the birds you buy and their bloodline is much more important than the price being asked.

In every facet of life one must expect to pay a premium for something that is of better quality, out of the ordinary and thus in limited supply. If can’t afford the best stock or you aren't prepared to pay the asking price, then buy birds from some body who will sell you birds at a price you are prepared to pay. The ultimate confirmation of whether a purchase was worth acquiring or not, is it’s ability to produce quality birds to be utilised within your aviary.

The secret is to buy as many birds as you can afford from one breeder. Your selected source of birds should be a breeder who is breeding their own line of birds!!!! Not a breeder who is continually bringing in birds through buying or swapping or whatever. Somebody who continues to bring in birds will not be able to supply you with anything that has background and therefore, that  will do you any good. Buy not following this advice you will be breeding "Fruit Salad Birds" which will not breed true. If you do produce a great bird from a fruit salad set up, it will take many generations to fix that birds qualities and that is presuming you know what you are doing.

ã Robert Manvell 2005

Please seek permission before reproducing this article. Email robert@bigtgolf.com

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