Budgie Fault Meeting

April 11th 2009

Maryland Budgerigar Society Holds First Ever Fault Show

By Sally O’Dwyer

In the spirit of learning more about the elusive Standard of Perfection and what constitutes a fault (an undesirable deviation from the Standard) the Maryland Budgerigar Society (MBS) held a Fault Show in April.  This show was held like any other, except in reverse. The Best in Show went to the bird that had the worst fault or fault(s).  Members were encouraged to bring their worst birds, not their best.

The judge for the show was the renowned David Collier, Budgerigar Society (BS) Judge. Before the show, Dave gave us a discussion on faults.  He referred to the new 2009 edition of the BS color standards, which has recently made some important revisions in judging.  According to the new BS rules, a bird with two key faults cannot win any major award.  Major faults include: flecking, opalescence (body coloring throughout the neck of the bird), missing 2 or more of the six major spots, missing primary flights, short or absent tail feathers, deformity (such as beak or missing toenail), any major deviation from a variety/color standard, and any genetic/inherent fault (such as dropped tail, nipped neck, poor backline, poor wing carriage or beaky bird).

Dave discussed faults and broke them down essentially into three groups: condition, inherent (born with), and variety faults.  Dave reminded us that there is no perfect bird alive (or dead) that meets the standard in every aspect. This bird simply has never been bred and that is “the challenge”, to quote Gerald Binks. Nonetheless, as breeders, we strive to meet the standard, and every once in awhile, we see an amazing budgie that comes close.  During Dave’s talk, one champion breeder exclaimed, “The more I breed birds, the more I realize that I don’t know anything.”

The fault show was conducted like any other. Entries were numbered and placed in show cages and set up on a long table at Kitty Newmans house.The exhibitors came prepared to triumph.  One MBS member good naturedly said, "If there is a competition, I am out to win!" 

The show began, and with a whopping ten entries, was a rather short affair. The judge was ruthless in his selection. He eyes quickly fixed upon his choice for the bird with the best fault(s) in show. As in any show, the best in show (or worst in show in this case) was easy to select.  The rest of the line-up, 2nd through 10th was more difficult to order. Many of thebirds had multiple faults, and factoring it all in was no easy feat.  Once the judge had arranged the birds in a line-up from worst to best, Dave explained his decisions to the crowd. 

Best Fault in Show went to a yellow faced sky that was beaky, small, narrow, and cross winged. Second place went to a sky hen with what I'd call "dropsy". The head was hung over so far that its beak rested on its chest.  Third place went to a bird without spots, beaky, and with a small head. I agreed before writing this article that the names of the exhibitors of these birds would not be revealed. However, I did not agree to withhold the photos included in this article! The winners were awarded certificates and bars of English chocolate from our British judge.  Everyone had a good laugh, and undoubtedly went home to judge for themselves the birds in their aviaries for faults.