It does not seem that the lifespan of the budgie is adequate for the personality and intellegence they posess. Lilly was my first rescue budgie. Not because the owner was neglectful, but she made a hard choice and decided she would have a better home. When the group was 4 strong, she taught them to wiggle out the bars for playtime. They followed her everywhere. She taught them to eat veggies. Lilly always ate her veggies. She recently befriended Lucky, a male who we rescued abandoned with no food or water. His friend, who looked just like Lilly, had already passed. We thought we were too late for Lucky, but Lilly, who never made friends with any of the other 15 budgies, found a friend. She could get aggrevated with some of the young ones, so we put her and Lucky in thier own penthouse. We were so happy she found a friend, because we were told she was old. A few months ago, she had a seizurelike fit, and I thought the worst. We brought her upstairs and kept her quiet. She had several of these. Last month, she just sat in a fluffy ball, like she couldnt breathe. Since then, she was all energy and fun. You would not know she was a senior pssitacine. Last night, we had a veggie party, and gave them papers to shred, and she was all over it. Then covered them all, told her goodnight. This morning we found her forever sleeping with very sad Lucky looking over her. She was my prettiest bird.