In the beginning of October 2002, a friend of mine bought a young budgie from people who didn't treat the bird very well. The baby budgie was kept as a solitary bird, "jailed" in a horrible cage that was filled with things one should better not put into a budgie's surrounding. They even put sandpaper covers around the perches because they wanted the budgie's claws to remain short. This kind of paper does not keep the nails short, instead it hurts the sensitive skin on the soles of the feet and causes painful infections. When my friend took the poor bird away from its former home, it was in a stable but not optimal condition due to the indifferent treatment. It was right in time, the feet were sore but not infected. One more week of standing on the sandpaper and the wounds would have been more serious.

Several weeks before my friend got the bird out of there, those folks bought the baby budgie in a shop. They accused the bird of being stupid and they were angry because it hasn't become tame and - what was even worse for them - it still didn't talk. Well, who would like to own such a - to their opinion - stupid bird...? In fact I would never say something like this without pointing out that it's just ironic because I hate it when people blame animals for a "wrongdoing" instead of themselves. Their great expectations were not fulfilled by the bird who was asked too much by his owners and who was even filled with fear. Those people behaved too superficial to recognize their bird was ill, they didn't even notice the budgie's damaged plumage.

My friend cared for the young budgie lady for a while and soon found out that the bird will never be able to fly. A disease called the French Molt made her feathers stop growing, so she remained a flightless bird all her life. In my friend's home the bird was safe and sound and could recover from the past. After she had regained her strength and self-confidence, the young budgie lady moved into my bird room on 12/12/02. By the way: She was still not tame or able to talk, but that didn't bother me at all. :-)

It's so sad but I have to claim that Medea's illness was progressive and aggressive. Therefore Medea lost more and more feathers with each molt until she became nearly completely naked.

In my bird room, Medea - that was the new name she got here - turned everything upside down. Despite of her handicap she seemed to feel a lot of joy of living and she was bursting from energy. It only took her a few minutes to get herself a dominant position within the flock. Even though she was a newcomer, she was the first to nibble from the half-ripe millet after I brought it into the bird room. One thing war sure: This budgie has become very self-confident again after she was taken away from her former home! Medea's colour mutationis called "Banded Pied" in blue and yellow. She was much alike my beloved Sirius when she still got feathers.

When Medea came to my home, her first molt was about to begin. I think she must have hatched from her egg in June 2002. When she became mature, it was great fun in the bird room. The young lady started to drive the male budgies crazy when she had become a woman. But despite all this, she remained single for years. Finally in the beginning of June 2005 she fell in love with her Mr. Right: young Nik won her heart. But she was not his main wife, he also flirted with other female members of the flock.

In December 2005 something terrible happened. A man who lives in my neighbourhood was completely drunk and he started to destroy his furniture one night. At about 2 am in the morning there was an incredible noise that made my birds become frightened and fly in their cages in panic. Many of them got seriously hurt - Medea was one of the victims. I cared for her for weeks and finally it seemed as if I had been able to save her life. All my hopes were destroyed when her internal bleedings started again without any warning in the evening of the 02/11/2006. Medea lost too much blood, I haven't been able to help her in any way and I could do nothing but watch my beloved little friend die in my hand. It's always hard to accept the death of someone you love. In Medea's case it is even worse because it all seems so senseless to me. My poor little friend had to die because somebody has a problem with drinking and she had the bad luck that this somebody lives next-door... I will never forget you, Medea! You will always remain my sweetheart.

Meaning of the name
My passion for astronomy made me choose a name of a minor planet for my new budgie. The name Medea appears in the Greek mythology. This princess who fell in love with the brave Jason when he was in Colchis for getting the Golden Fleece lend her name to the minor planet and to my bird.