Actually one should think that if a budgie is tame, beautiful and remarkably quiet, people can't do anything else but love this bird. But the former owner of the budgie who is shown on the left didn't do so what I never will be able to understand. The story is even sadder: Spinelessly as the former owner of the bird was, he or she didn't have the strength to say "I don't like my bird any more". In October 2001, the budgie was brought to the animal shelter of my town. Well, it hasn't actually been brought there... Its former owner took a cardboard box, put the budgie into it and anonymously left it in front of the entrance of the animal shelter at night.

The staff of the animal shelter was not able to find a new owner for the cute little bird for many weeks. The reason for this is that Io is disabled. Some time ago, the left wing was broken, but Io can't tell what exactly has happened. Fact is that the former owner didn't bring her to a vet after her wing was broken - a cruelty against this poor budgie lady who couldn't speak for herself. Many people don't like a disabled budgie in their home because those animals look ugly according to their opinion. So the poor bird stayed into that cage of the animal shelter and there was no hope for finding a new home for the nameless "misfit".

On the October 16th, a friend of mine who is one of the honorary workers in this animal shelter, told me the sad story of the disabled budgie hen. A whole life into that small cage in loneliness is nothing any bird in this world would choose if he could. So I immediately decided to give this budgie a new home even though I wasn't actually looking for another bird. The idea of an innocent bird being alone and unloved by most people made me sick. A few weeks later, on the 8th of November Io could move into my bird room and happily lives together with my other birds since then. After her fellow hen Paula died in February 2002, Io became the new mate of the lively Orion when he was still alive. Shortly after Orion's death in May 2003, Io fell in love with Pollux. They have become a happy couple caressing each other the whole day long during Io's lifetime.

Even though the wing was dropped due to her bastard wing (Alula) was broken, Io was able to fly what nobody ever expected. Something very sad happened in September 2003. A tumor grew on the part of the wing that was broken - and it grew very fast! My vet and me, we decided to save Io's life with an amputation of a part of her wing. The operation went well and after it, Io's right wing was just slightly shorter than her healthy one. Fortunately, all this didn't hurt her and therefore Io remained lively in any sense. A few months later by the end of February, she died very sudden. An egg that was not properly developed stuck into her. She was operated by a vet in the middle of the night, the next afternoon she died despite all our efforts to save her life. I will never forget this charming, bashful budgie who always behaved as if she was a real lady. Io, thank you for everything!

Io's colour mutation is called Banded Pied and was first bread in Australia. The colours of my bird are yellow and sky blue in Opaline. There is also some cinnamon and yellowface into Io's colour mutation. Combined with her elegant way of moving, this makes her a very bashful bird.

Meaning of the name
One of the four great moons of the planet Jupiter is called Io. From here you can see this moon by using a binocular. It's a spectacular view if you have a look at the giant planet consisting of gas and his four tiny satellites surrounding him very quickly. In Greek mythology, Io was beloved of Zeus. For protecting her from the jealousy of his wife Hera, the God changed Io into a white heifer.