At the end of 2003, the Club of German Budgie-Friends was very busy because 14 birds from Dortmund, a town in the Ruhr area, needed immediate help. Many of them were heavily ill and they needed intense care. It was also necessary to bring them to a vet several times. Especially two women calles Andrea and Silvia wanted to help, so both of them took some of the budgies to their place. Soon they realised that they were not able to pay all the bills from the vets, but they didn't want to give up. In an incredibly fund-raising campaign, pet lovers from all over Germany donated more than 1,000 Euro within a few days to help the "Dortmund-Budgies" - that's how the 14 birds were called from that time on.

Among the needy birds was one female who was not able to fly due to a swelling on her left wing. She got the name Suerte and lived at Andrea's place for a long time. Andrea fondly cared for the bird since Suerte was very ill, she suffered from infections for example. But even though Suerte sickened that long, she became an active and curious budgie due to Andrea's care. When she was together with the other birds, she always tried to climb up high and even fell down from about two meters height when Andrea didn't concentrate on her for just one second. She decided that Suerte should move to a place which is safe for a disabled bird like her. On 10/24/2004, the lovely budgie hen finally became a member of the Birds-Online-flock after being ill for so long.

Suerte was a normal budgie in light blue, that's how her colour mutation is called. When she arrived in my bird room, she immediately was accepted by my other birds and it seemed as if she already was a flock member for many years. This trouble-free integration was possible because she was such a likeable and gentle hen who was curious and not touchy at all. After all other Dortmund-Budgies have already settled in at their new homes, Suerte's journey finally came to an end at my place - and she stayed here until the end of her life.

Im the late summer of 2005 Suerte's tumour which grew on her left wing suddenly became bigger and bigger. Then it kept its size and stopped growing. But in the beginning of November it started to grow once again. Within a few days it has become incredibly tall. I took Suerte to an avian vet who said an amputation of her wing would save her life for sure. Since Suerte was strong and healthy he said she would most probably survive the operation. We fixed the date for the operation, it took place in the morning of 11/15/05. The vet had just started to make her sleep when her heart stopped beating. Suerte was too weak to survive the operation even though we thought she was ok.

The doctor found out that there were several small tumours within her body and among other organs parts of her liver were already destroyed by them. Due to her heavy illnes she had no chance to survive what we didn't know in advance. The only thing that gives me comfort is the thought that she didn't have to suffer. Suerte gently passed away while she was sleeping. I miss you, dear sky blue lady!

Meaning of the name
The word "Suerte" is Spanish and means "luck" in English. This name was given to the budgie lady shortly after she has been rescued as described above.