It was a grey December day and I was already in mood for celebrating Christmas when at on 12/19/1999 a tiny budgie chick fought itself out of its egg. I had to help because the egg was too small and therefore the chick had to get out of it two and a half days before the normal date. In fact it was a premature birth, but it was the only chance to save the tiny bird's life. Since the egg was about one third of the size of a normal egg the chick would have died therein. To be honest I feared the new born bird would not be strong enough to survive. But I forgot one important thing: the mother whose name was Sirius was a fighter and she felt how breakable the delicate chick was. Her intense care saved her daughters' life. Sacrificially she cared for her only chick, she tenderly caressed her daughter and warmed her with her fluffy feathers. Sirius managed to raise her chick on her own. Her husband Kallisto ran away with another hen while Sirius was sitting on her clutch.

Since her birth Rana lived at my place. She was one of the few birds of my flock who never have experienced anything bad. Unlike so many of my parakeets whom I took from the local animal shelter or adopted after they had been confiscated by the municipality, Rana didn't know cruelty against animals in any way. I always treated her with love and respect every day of her life. Therefore she was faithful and she knew I would never do her any harm. As a baby bird she loved to lie in the palm of my hand and let me caress her - and she still did when she was older, but only when she was in the right mood. Rana was very self-confident. When I tried to make her perch on my finger and she didn't want to she just flew away. But in case she liked to be caressed by me she jumped right onto my arm, climbed on my hand and unmistakably showed me what she wanted. Due to these confidence proofs and many other small signs of affection I really loved this moody budgie lady and to be honest she was my favourite bird in the flock.

Those who have seen Rana in my bird room knew that she was a live wire even though she was quite small. Flying around very fast was one of her favourite hobbies and she was the queen of the "sky". All other birds avoided hitting her and respected her outstanding capability of navigation. Rana didn't have many close friends among the other flock members, she seemed to prefer loose contacts. The only exception from this rule was her "marriage" with the gentle Pollux. If one took a closer look at this couple it was obvious to see that opposites attract. While Rana was driven by impertinence her husband was calm and relaxed. Together they made a wonderful team and they loved to caress each other all day long.

In February 2006 Rana became ill. She suffered from a stomach flu what is very rare in budgies. I tried everything to help her and fought for her life. Many times I have brought her to my avian vet and finally in the beginning of April it seemed as if she had totally recovered from her severe illness. Since I loved her so much I was the happiest woman in the world to see her flying around full of health again. But things weren't as they seemed. On 04/22/2006 Rana passed away without any warning. Even though I didn't want to favour any bird of my flock she was my dearest feathered friend. Loosing her cut like a knife and there will always be a very special place for her in my heart. I am so glad that I had the chance to know this amazing bird who was so much more than just a budgie.

Rana's colour mutation is called Banded Pied in mauve and yellow. In addition to this, Rana is a Yellowface type 2 and a cinnamon Opaline.

Meaning of the name
Rana is a star in the constellation "Eridanus". You can find it right beside the constellation Larger Dog. The mother of my lovely budgie carried the name of the brightest star of this constellation (Sirius, the dog star), so I wanted to name her daughter after a star close to the Larger Dog.

In Latin, Rana means "frog". I know that but it doesn't matter to me anyway. There is another sense for the word Rana in India for example. There it is a male first name.