A different clock from almost every other parrot
Most advice about parrot out-of-cage time assumes a bold, daytime-active bird demanding attention, and a Bourke's parakeet is almost the opposite. This small Australian grass parakeet is crepuscular, most alive at dawn and especially dusk, placid through the middle of the day, and easily overwhelmed by noise and grabbing hands. So the question is not only how much time out she needs, but when and how calmly it is offered. One to two hours of supervised free flight in a quiet room, timed toward late afternoon and evening as she naturally livens up, fits her biology far better than a long, loud midday session built around the family's convenience.
What her out-of-cage time should contain
Bourke's fly well and enjoy it, so her out time should centre on real flight around a safe room, not on being carried about or sitting on hands. Offer low perches and a tray of seed scattered in short grass-like material or paper to forage through, reflecting how these birds feed on the ground in the wild. Keep the atmosphere hushed: television low, children seated rather than chasing, and no other pets in the room, since a Bourke's defence is to freeze or flutter rather than to bite, which makes her easy to injure accidentally. She will often spend part of the session sitting quietly near you, and that still counts; for this species, peaceful presence outside the cage is exercise and enrichment at her pace, not a failed play session.
Aviary birds and caged birds are different cases
A Bourke's housed in a roomy aviary or a large flight cage already spends her day flying, and for her the out-of-cage question mostly dissolves, replaced by making sure the aviary offers ground foraging, bathing, and sheltered perches. It is the pet Bourke's in a standard cage who needs the daily flight session protected in the family schedule, because her cage is a roost, not a habitat. Either way, judge by her condition and behaviour: a bird that flies strongly, feeds eagerly at dusk, and settles to roost calmly is getting what she needs. A caged bird growing fat and reluctant to fly is telling you the sessions are too short, too rare, or offered at hours when she would rather sleep.
Timing, safety, and the evening routine
Build her main session into the household's early evening, letting her out before her dusk feed so she returns to the cage willingly for food as light fades, which avoids any need to catch or towel a bird that hates handling. Prepare the room first: curtains closed against glass she might fly into, fans off, doors shut, and small gaps behind furniture blocked, because a startled Bourke's that lands on the floor can slip into spaces a larger parrot never could. Keep sessions at a consistent time so she anticipates them and is waiting at the cage door, rather than being woken and extracted when she is half asleep. On evenings the family cannot manage it, a longer dawn session the next day is a fair substitute.
Gentle bird, subtle warning signs
Because Bourke's are so undemanding, their problems are overlooked: a bird that stops flying during out time, sits fluffed at midday as well as at rest, loses weight along the breastbone, or is bullied away from food by bolder cage companions needs an avian vet, and her quietness should never be read as proof all is well. Weigh her occasionally on a small scale if she will step on one calmly, since trends matter more than any single reading in a bird this light. Agreeing her flight times and room rules as a household stops one person letting her out into an unprepared room, and KinsLe's Family Sharing keeps those details in one shared place everyone checks.