Wild Budgerigars

Courtesy of Rob Wood - driller on Woodline gold exploration Project:

Wild budgerigars behaving in the most extraordinary way !!

2017 and Time For Some Further Explanation.
I don't check this video often and am amazed to see how many people have seen it. Thanks for all the nice feedback. Scrolling through the comments, there are some recurring questions and statements.

1. Yes the birds are wild. Check the other two videos on this channel if you have any doubt. It is nearly 100 km to the nearest town and 50 km to the nearest house. It is extensive bushland.
2. They are not thirsty. They were not interested in any food or water around our camp.
3. There is absolutely no way any of us would have taken one of these birds. They probably would have died if we did something so stupid.
4. The especially tame birds (most did not get close enough to handle) were not sick.
5. I have only seen budgies behave anything like this once. However, flies are like this every day in the bush. You get used to it very quickly.

Now for some more context for those of you who are interested. The man who shot the video, Rob Wood, is not me. We were working together exploring for gold southeast of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. The day before hundreds of budgies descended on the camp, six of them visited me and my field assistant while we were out working. Over the space of an hour or two they got closer and closer to our vehicle, like they were checking us out until one went INSIDE THE CAB. It wasn't scared when we very carefully went in and from there at least two or three of those six budgies landed on us and "played" with us. The cricket was on the radio. Maybe that had something to do with it.

The next day, OMG, there were hundreds of budgies at the drillers camp. We all got to see them and interact with them. You see some of this in the video footage. Unfortunately (for me), I was not there when Rob shot the most amazing footage of the budgies on the windscreen. I had gone in to town to refill the water trailer.

The budgies went out with the drillers to the drill rig. I am told that they were not the slightest bit put off by the deafening roar of the drill rig. They spent an hour or two swarming all over the mast, in and out of the cab of the truck and perched on the driller's helmets. Then they flew off and we never saw them again.

Carl Brauhart
Geologist
Perth WA