If you are a bird and you can't fly due to a disease, life is quite unfair. This experience has been made by the beautiful male budgie Pollux. Since his birth in the summer of 2002, his further fate was drawn - at least it seemed like that. As a hatchling, he was seriously ill. His parents infected him with the so-called French Molt. This is an illness which makes nearly all affected budgies flightless for the rest of their lives because they lose their wing and tail feathers. But in Pollux' case a miracle happened, as you will see below. It's unbelievable how lucky he was and I was indescribably glad about it! But now let me tell his story from the beginning.

When I first heard of Pollux, he was living in a small flock and he had a wonderful time with the other two budgies. Then, however, one of his feathered friends deceased much too young without any warning. This bird's swing didn't remain empty for long. It was occupied by another young hen soon. The other female bird was very happy to see her - and forgot Pollux. While the two hens spread their wings to fly, poor Pollux was attached to the ground unable to follow them. Even though he tried hard to fly his wings didn't carry him because of the missing feathers.

This must have been fairly frustrating for Pollux, so he became sad and a bit frightened since he was neglected by his pals in that way. His owner was very sorry about what has happened to Pollux, so with a heavy heart she decided to give him away to another place where he would find some company - some friends who wouldn't turn away from him. She wished to find a new home for her gentle male bird where he would be able to make friends with other disabled birds who cannot fly. When she asked me for help, I decided that he could become a member of my flock.

On 03/25/2003, Pollux moved into my bird room. After a while, Pollux was familiar with living at my place. One day, a tragedy happened and Io's husband died. Pollux came to comfort the sad widow and conquered her heart. From that day on, they happily lived together and one could often see them tenderly caressing each other. Unfortunately Io died on 02/29/2004 and left him in grief. But there was an angel among his feathered friends of the flock who took care of him. A few days after he had lost his wife, Cordelia started to comfort him and they became a couple. From March 2004 until summer 2005 they have been staying together and then Pollux became a widower again. After his second wife had died he started courting Rana who loved him a lot until the day she died (see photo). Poor Pollux again lost a beloved wife...

But that's not all, the gentle bird also made friends with the other budgies. Pollux quickly found out what the numerous little ladders, twigs and ropes are good for. He athletically climbed them with his new friends - and he still does today even though he is able to fly. As I said before he is a very lucky guy because his French Molt vanished and his large feathers started to grow in the beginning of 2004. Since then he was one of the best flyers in my bird room and he was very happy about that. With his light green Opaline Spangle plumage, he looked lovely and fitted well into the colourful bird society. In summer 2006 he fell in love with the lovely budgie-lady Rohanna and they became a pair. She stayed at his side until the day he died a few years later.

Pollux started to show the first symptoms of a testicular tumour in summer 2009. But the tumour didn't grow fast and therefore Pollux only had a brown cere and no other symptoms. He didn't suffer from any pain and he was healthy for another two years. In late summer 2011, suddenly the tumour started to grow and because it became so big, Pollux could hardly breathe. Therefore I decided to take him to my avian vet who put Pollux to sleep on 09/08/11. It was the only thing we could to, there was no therapy and no surgery would have been helpful. Losing him after so many years was very hard for me. I miss him so much because he was such a cheerful, gentle and friendly little feathered guy.

Meaning of the name
In the constellation Gemini which is to be seen in the winter on the northern hemisphere, one can easily find the brightest star that is 33 light-years away from Earth. This star is called Pollux and I named the bird after this astronomical object. In the Roman mythology, Pollux was the twin brother of Castor. Their mother Leda was enticed by Zeus (=Jupiter), who appeared to her as a swan.