Little Green Men
Traditional breeding using modern science.
Traditional breeding using modern science.
5/26/21: We have some new English budgies to breed for this year, and also the photographer is coming THIS Friday (the photographer and I had trouble synchronizing our schedules), so I plan to fully update the website then. I've also updated some of my prices (most have gone down slightly).
3/9/21: In just a couple of weeks we have a photographer friend coming to get some quality photos of the aviary and our beautiful selection of birds. We are very excited to see what she can capture. I plan to tear down and rebuild the website with the new photos as soon as they're available.
3/8/21: NEW SPECIES FOR 2021 - Neophemas, the grasskeets!
Splendid a.k.a. scarlet-chested parrots
Neophema splendida
Turquoisine a.k.a. turquoise parrots
Neophema pulchella
Elegant parrots
Neophema elegans
We are smitten with all the species in this Neophema genus. Their enchanting calls and adorable personalities have won our hearts. We are eagerly anticipating several fun research projects with these enchanting little parrots!
Little Green Men is a traditional home aviary based in Richmond, RI where flying reptiles play, chat, sing, whistle, and breed. Intelligent, affectionate, talkative, playful, silly, and riotously colorful, budgies are one of our favorite bird species. Adaptable breeders with a puzzling evolutionary history and fascinating genetics, budgies are also an important species to avian science.
Mission and Vision
Our mission is to raise healthy, strong, socialized birds in a clean, safe, and enriching environment, and to place them into well matched, loving homes. Using the scientific method and meticulous documentation we improve our knowledge with each clutch and ultimately hope to become a resource for other breeders and to contribute our research to the fields of aviculture and avian behavior.
How we operate
We raise a limited number of budgie chicks at a time so that we can fully socialize every chick individually and place them with the perfect home based on specifications in a reservation. Every bird we raise is healthy and hand tame at the time of pick up because of the extensive amount of time we spend with them. While they are growing we get to know them well enough to match them with the best home. We have all new owners handle the birds at pickup time so they can confirm that the bird meets all their expectations.
Our husbandry practices include meticulous hygiene routines, enrichment, reduction of stress, and individual attention for every bird in the aviary, made possible by keeping a small-scale aviary and not overcrowding. Overcrowding can lead to faster breeding and more chicks, but we condemn that technique in favor of safety, health and comfort. We also rest our females after only two clutches so they do not suffer exhaustion or worse tragedy. These policies mean that we raise fewer chicks, but that they are all healthy and well adjusted.
We offer a HEALTH GUARANTEE if a veterinary checkup is completed on the bird by an avian specialist within 48 hours of adoption and before acquiring any other new birds. We are very flexible on pickup times, so we can arrange pickup after you've made a veterinary appointment that works with your schedule. We have veterinary screenings done on all new birds that we purchase as well.
All new owners will receive a CARE PACKAGE when they pick up their new baby which will include a 3-week baby photo, a sample of the pellets we use, a favorite toy, and our extensive care sheet. All owners will also be treated with individual attention regarding their bird after adoption for as long into the future as they'd like. We are happy to help with advice about your other birds and avian science in general.
We encourage prospective owners to schedule a visit to the aviary prior to placing a reservation. We do not require this, but we do find it helps new owners feel more confident about placing a reservation and waiting for a bird.
To place a reservation for a budgie baby to be picked up after weaning, please fill out the form at the bottom of the page or text Katey at (401) 855-1809 with the following information
(* indicates required information):
*Name:
Color or morph desired:
Gender desired:
*Other birds you own:
*Non-avian pets you own:
*Past experience with birds (it's ok if you're new to bird
ownership, it's just good for us to know so we can provide additional
information):
*Email:
Phone number:
We do not require a deposit to reserve a bird, but if we feel someone is abusing our reservation policy we will uphold our right to refuse their request.
Once we have received your request, we will contact you with an estimated wait time. If a chick meeting your criteria is already available, you will be contacted ASAP to schedule a pickup.
Wait times to baby placement will depend on many factors including how specific you are in your desires and who is actively breeding. More precise specifications may take longer to fulfill while more generalized needs can be met more quickly.
These are our standard prices for American budgies. Birds of highly unusual genetic combinations or show quality English will be priced individually at our discretion.
As a general rule there is a $30 upcharge for English budgies.
Normal green (wild type): $60
Olive: $60
Opaline green/olive: $60
Normal blue (= sky blue): $70
Cobalt: $70
Opaline blue/cobalt: $70
Type I and II Yellowface: $70
Mauve: $75
Dominant pied: $75
Recessive pied: $75
Greywing: $75
Gray: $80
Ino (albino/lutino/creamino): $80
Cinnamon: $80
Dark-Eyed Clear (white/yellow + black eyes): $85
Dilute (paler than greywing): $85
Violet (visible): $90
Spangle (single factor): $100
Clearwing: $110
Rainbow dilute: $120
Rainbow spangle (SF): $130
True rainbow (clearwing): $140
Lacewing: $160
"Rainbow" is simply shorthand for the following genetic combinations which result in birds that appear multi-colored with little black or gray:
Rainbow spangle = sky blue + type II yellowface + opaline + spangle
Rainbow clearwing (true rainbow) = sky blue + type II yellowface + opaline + clearwing
Rainbow dilute = sky blue + type II yellowface + opaline + dilute
Lacewing is a combination of albino and cinnamon. In lacewings, the albinism erases all pigment except for the wing and cheek markings. The result is an all white bird with cinnamon markings, like a henna tattoo. This variety cannot be created simply by pairing a cinnamon with an albino, however, since the genetics behind it are more complex. In addition to their obvious attractiveness, the difficulty in creating them makes lacewings quite rare.
For questions about color morphs or bird genetics, please text Katey at (401) 855-1809.
Prices are not negotiable.
We do not sell cages or accessories.
Clipping: All our birds are allowed to fledge naturally and are flighted by default in our aviary. Our adult birds fly around our bedroom all day almost every day. We have strict safety and hygiene measures in place to allow for their flighted lifestyle. Whether or not your bird will be safer flighted or clipped is dependent on your bird's living situation once he goes home. If you'd like to have your bird's flight feathers clipped we can do that at no charge and we can show you how to maintain a good clip throughout your bird's life and not a harmful one (many clip jobs are poorly done and lead to more accidents than they prevent). We are happy to advise if you're not sure which option is right for you.
Bird sitting: Little Green Men serves as a sitting and boarding facility for most captive indoor bird species.* We are located near a 24-hour emergency veterinary clinic with an avian specialist, we have emergency supplies, and we have the space and resources to keep birds quarantined and safe while providing quality time for all.
If you have multiple birds housed in the same cage, we will charge the usual price for the first bird and half off for the rest in the cage.
Budgies, cockatiels, lovebirds, conures and other small parrots:
Nightly: $20
Weekly: $120
Mid-sized or slightly needier birds (Indian ringnecks, pionus):
Nightly: $40
Weekly: $240
Larger, more demanding parrot species (greys, Amazons, cockatoos):
Nightly: $60
Weekly: $360
Macaws:
Nightly: $80
Weekly: $560
Fruit eaters (lories, mynahs, toucans):
Nightly: $50
Weekly: $300
*Due to state legislation we cannot accept quaker parrots/monk parakeets.
We will work with you to carefully plan your bird's daily routine during his stay and adhere to all your home rules as well as our own.
Commonly called simply the "parakeet" in the U.S., the proper common name for Melopsittacus undulatus is the budgerigar. Never let anyone tell you otherwise - budgies are parrots. The arbitrary term "parakeet" is a term often applied to many smaller species of parrot, but there is no genetic or evolutionary delineation between "parrots" and "parakeets". Similarity in size does not necessarily indicate a close evolutionary relationship. Indeed, budgies appear to have diverged from other psittacines quite a long time ago and have a multitude of genetic novelties that occur in no other psittacine species. Recent morphological studies combined with information from previous mitochondrial DNA analyses have determined that the closest living taxa to Melopsittacus are Loriculus (hanging parrots), Agapornis (lovebirds), and the whole families of Cyclopsittini (fig parrots) and Lorrini (lories) (Mayr, 2008).
Budgies are one of the smallest parrot species and are remarkable among parrots for many reasons. Their spectacular budgerigar murmurations in the wild leave researchers stumped and viewers in awe. Wild budgies live in extended families of about 50-100 individuals, joining with other family groups at water sources where they unite for their mesmerizing performances of up to ten thousand budgies. They are largely nomadic and may travel hundreds of miles per day across the vast red center of Australia to find the most recent rainfall, able to sense it at a distance of 40 miles. They are exquisitely adapted to locating their primary energy source - seeds.
The inclusion of seeds in a captive parrot's diet is a surprisingly controversial subject which is addressed in detail in our care sheet. For the most current information about bird husbandry, about which we learn more all the time, it is a good idea to check Google Scholar for recent primary literature or to ask an avian specialist veterinarian as they both read and conduct this research on a regular basis. It is also important to remember that each individual budgie may have different requirements based on lifestyle, personality, habits and genetics. It will come down to careful attention to your bird on a daily basis to know if they are getting the right nutrition.
Our bizarre little friends make excellent companions because they are flock animals. They are entirely reliant on their flock in the wild and stick close to them wherever they go. Anyone who has owned a tame budgie has seen this instinct in action. Every budgie requires companionship, either in the form of other budgies to live with or its owner, in order to be a fulfilled and happy budgie.
Yes, they talk! They talk well. Single budgies who have bonded closely with their owner are especially proficient and can learn hundreds of words, including full sentences. In fact, the world record holder for the most words spoken by a bird belongs to, not an African grey, but a budgie. It is sometimes said that males are "better" at talking than females, but this is somewhat misleading. A male and a female are likely to learn a phrase in about the same length of time with the same amount of practice. The difference is that males are more talkative - that is, once they learn the phrase, they may say it 100 times a day while the female might only say it when she feels like it or when you're interacting with her. Though more research is needed to understand the nature of mimicry in the animal kingdom, one possible reason for the budgie's ability to mimic is due to the need to recognize and repeat its own family's calls among thousands of birds. Females must learn to repeat their family's unique chirps just as well as males, so they should not be worse imitators. This necessity also explains why budgies most closely bonded with their owners tend to speak most fluently.
Mon | By Appointment | |
Tue | By Appointment | |
Wed | By Appointment | |
Thu | By Appointment | |
Fri | By Appointment | |
Sat | Closed | |
Sun | Closed |
LGM is open to visits by appointment only.
Little Green Men
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