Everything comes back to budgies—that very first bird so many of us ever owned.

The Budgerigar Society of South Africa has reached a new chapter, and I’m so excited about it.

I know what it feels like to pair birds carefully, hoping to breed certain qualities into a show budgie. But we all have those bloody little budgies too. Whether we like it or not, they’re in our blood.

I don’t even put nesting boxes in. They’re simply there, because of that sound. That budgie chatter. They’re just different.

Cowboy budgies. Or BOC—Budgies of Colour.

The wonderful news is that, for the first time in BSSA history, these little rascals will have more than just two classes on the show bench. All the classes will be there.

That opens so many doors for the ordinary budgie breeder. There’s a real chance to achieve something, earn rosettes and collect points. Everyone starts at novice level—as a beginner.

I’m so excited about what this could mean for our ordinary hobbyists and, especially, our juniors.

Uniondale (KABC) will host the first show with all the classes, and Albert van Vuuren will be the judge.

With all his experience, he should certainly know how to pick the best little budgie on the bench! I’ve shown plenty of birds under him, and I knew some of mine weren’t particularly good. There are standards we should be breeding towards, but with so few entries back then, I had to win something!

Paul Visser has budgies in his heart—even if he did pinch my jacket and leave me with his judge’s jacket! He’s there to represent all of us, and we need people to get involved.

If you have Budgies of Colour, we’re counting on you to bring entries. Do what I do and enter a few birds in the same class. Yes, you might be competing against yourself, but it’s the beginning of bigger things.

And yes, I have ordinary little budgies in my aviaries alongside my show budgies.

And I still love it.