Budgies are supposed to be boring, manageable pets. I have no doubt that when my extremely busy parents took me to the pet shop and let me pick out a bird for my seventh birthday, they imagined they were swerving the time commitment of looking after a cat, or a dog, or even a rabbit when I lost interest.
But the neon-yellow lutino budgerigar that I took home with me was not your average featherball. Brighton Yellow, as I named him with typical seven-year-old sophistication, was an absolute riot who would not be confined to his cage. He was proof that you often get more than you bargain for when you adopt a pet.
