A Small Parrot That Still Flies
A Bourke's parrot is a slim, gentle grass parakeet, and its space needs are defined by flight rather than by bulk. Unlike a big parrot that climbs more than it flies, a Bourke's moves around its home on the wing, in quick, direct flights from perch to perch. A flight cage at least about thirty inches long for a pair, and longer if you can manage it, gives those flights somewhere to happen; a tall, narrow cage wastes most of its volume, because the bird will not use the dead air in the middle. Bar spacing should suit a small parakeet.
The Forgotten Dimension: The Cage Floor
Bourke's parrots come from Australian grasslands and feed on the ground, so the floor of the cage is living space for this species, not just a tray to line. Leave a clear area of floor where seed can be scattered or a foraging tray set down, because a Bourke's will happily spend part of its day walking and picking through it. Keep that floor zone away from the spot directly under the main perches so the foraging area stays reasonably clean, and do not crowd the cage with hanging toys that block the flight path or clutter the floor. A low perch close to the ground suits this species too; they rest lower and more quietly than most parrots, and a cage furnished only at the top ignores how a Bourke's actually spends its time.
A Calm Room Is Part of the Space
Bourke's are famously quiet and undemanding, and their space requirement includes the character of the room. They are most active in the soft light of dawn and dusk, twittering and flying when many other parrots are asleep or just waking, so a cage in a hallway, beside a front door, or next to a television in constant use gives them no settled rhythm. A calm corner of a living room or spare room, out of direct sun and draughts, with the cage against a wall so the birds feel covered from behind, suits them far better than a busy central spot.
Flight Time Outside the Cage
Even a generous flight cage is a compromise, and most Bourke's keepers add supervised out-of-cage time in a bird-safe room. That room needs its own space planning: windows and mirrors the birds can learn or that are covered at first, no open water, no gaps behind heavy furniture where a small parrot can slip down, and doors kept shut with everyone in the house aware the birds are out. Bourke's fly fast and low when startled, so a room where people walk through carefully, and where cats and dogs are shut out entirely, is essential.
Space for a Pair or a Small, Peaceful Group
Bourke's are social and are usually kept as a pair or in a peaceful aviary group, which changes the maths: each added bird needs its own feeding access and its own retreat perch, even though the species rarely quarrels. Provide more than one feeding station in a group cage, perches at the ends rather than across the middle so the flight lane stays open, and enough length that a bird wanting distance can genuinely get it.
Keeping the Routine Shared
A Bourke's setup runs on small, timed kindnesses: the cage uncovered for the dawn activity, flight time in the early evening, the foraging tray refreshed. Those details are easy for one person to know and easy for a household to lose track of. KinsLe's Family Sharing lets you share your Bourke's parrot's profile and care information with the family members who help with the bird, so whoever is home at dusk works from the same routine and the same notes as you do.