A Bourke's parrot often changes hands quietly — an aviary breeder, a pair sold together, a single bird joining an existing flight — and the informality of the sale is exactly why paperwork matters. This gentle Australian grass parakeet may live with you for well over a decade, be seen by vets who never met the breeder, and possibly move home again. The records that travel with the bird are its memory. Here is what should be in the envelope, and what to ask for if it is not offered.
Identity and origin records for this bird
Start with the basics in writing: hatch date, or the breeder's best age estimate for an older bird, and the closed leg band number if the Bourke's is banded — photograph the band as well, because tiny engraved numbers are hard to read on a living bird later. Note the sex and how it was established; Bourke's are only subtly dimorphic, so 'the breeder's impression' and a properly sexed result are different grades of information and the record should say which you have.
Colour mutation belongs in this section too. Bourke's parrots come in natural plumage and mutations such as rosa, and a written note of the mutation and, where known, the parents' mutations helps any future breeding decision and explains the bird's appearance to a vet or new keeper. Add the breeder's name, address, and phone number, plus the sale date and who sold the bird if it passed through an intermediary.
Diet, rearing, and health history
Ask how the bird was raised — parent-raised in an aviary or hand-reared — because it predicts how tame the Bourke's will be, how it relates to other birds, and how it should be housed at first. Then get the current diet in specific terms: the seed blend it eats, any formulated food, the greens and seeding grasses it is used to, and how food is presented, since Bourke's feed substantially on the ground and a sudden change of dish or diet in the first week adds stress to a move.
Health paperwork should cover veterinary visits with dates and outcomes, any illness or injury in the bird's history, routine care the breeder performs, and whether the bird has been housed near any bird that was unwell. If the Bourke's was treated for anything, ask for the treating clinic's name so records can be transferred rather than reconstructed from memory.
Pairing and aviary history
Bourke's are commonly kept and sold as pairs, and they are peaceful birds often housed in mixed aviaries. Record who this bird is bonded or paired with, whether the pair has bred, and what other species it has lived alongside. That history matters medically — it sketches past exposure — and practically, because splitting a bonded pair without knowing it was one changes how you interpret a quiet first month. If you are buying one of a pair, have the seller write that down.
Collect whatever you receive before the bird settles in, chase gaps while the breeder still remembers the answers, and keep the set together rather than split between phone photos and drawers. KinsLe gives that set a permanent home in the Pet Passport, so your Bourke's parrot's band number, diet, and history stay in one organised record from its first day with you.