What was wrong with my budgie?

[Orudis]

Many years ago, I had a budgie who died at 11 years of age. Before she died, she would have episodes in which she would fly erratically through the house, banging against walls, mirrors, etc. This bird happened to be an expert flyer and nothing like this had ever happened.

Does anybody have ideas?

[Tinker]

Perhaps her eyesight was going in one or both eyes. Budgies are also prone to tumours, she might have had one that affected how she navigated in flight.

11 years is older than most budgies get though. She must have been well looked after, so was a credit to you.

[LovelySydney]

As the above poster said, she could just have had limited eyesight due to her age. 11 is a long time for a budgie to live, so you obviously did a wonderful job with her. Just like we humans age, birds have to age too and they too have the effects of loss of eyesight, wing use, muscle use, etc.

[Lori~D]

I would suspect cataracts or a tumor as well

[Barak]

Our budgie sometimes "flies amuck". She usually does this in the midst of sleep, as though she had a bad dream. She'd fly into several solid objects and then just land on the floor. When we picked her up, she would grip our fingers tightly and whistle very softly. She would wake up completely and return to her cage (we leave it open most of the time). She never hurt herself, thank God, and always returned to normal shortly after. We found that some sounds, new faces too close, animal smells and bright lights would send her flying blind.

[RXK]

Originally Posted by Barak

Our budgie sometimes "flies amuck". She usually does this in the midst of sleep, as though she had a bad dream. She'd fly into several solid objects and then just land on the floor. When we picked her up, she would grip our fingers tightly and whistle very softly. She would wake up completely and return to her cage (we leave it open most of the time). She never hurt herself, thank God, and always returned to normal shortly after. We found that some sounds, new faces too close, animal smells and bright lights would send her flying blind.

i think i read about this on this forum. apparently, it's akin to having a nightmare and sleepwalking in humans. but, i have to suggest that you keep the cage door closed at night: she hasn't gotten hurt, but she could in the future.

[Johnni Gade]

Originally Posted by Lori~D

I would suspect cataracts or a tumor as well

you're probably right