Rare Mutations of African Love Birds Cost US $2,324.00, Billy Badilla Says

Love Bird Therapy for Cancer

On April 2002 Billy Badilla, owner of Badilla Aviary, learned that he had urinary bladder cancer. His doctor said he had only two years to live. While undergoing chemotherapy he spent his free time in the rooftop of his home in Cainta, where he had an aviary. The birds became his therapy.

Billy is telling us this in the home of his sister, Bessie Badilla, the former beauty queen, model, comedian and actress (she is now based in the US). Bessie happened to be in the Philippines at that time, and although she wasn’t home, we did get to see her Boston Terrier.

Billy told us that as of April 2007 he was declared cured of cancer. The African Love Birds that he breeds sell for P100,000 each and he has a contract to export 1,000 birds monthly to Dubai, Bharain, Kuwait and the United States, among others. However, for him these birds are personal. Not just for the shared experience, but because the business allows him to work with backyard breeders from Aparri to Jolo, as his way of giving back.

Definition of rare mutations of African Love Birds

Billy is also a donor and sponsor of volunteer programs that deal with ensuring the propagation of African Love Birds in the wild. Last April he went to South Africa to help in the tabulation of these beautiful birds.

Mutation Defined

An Urban Dictionary-type definition of the word “mutation” might say it’s a cross between a pedigree dog and the medieval royal family who intermarried among themselves.

Right now there are nine top species of African lovebirds. One species, however, is extinct. Badilla has seven of the nine top species. However, his birds differ from those in the wild. The birds that Badilla breeds have specific physical features that are very beautiful and so they are inbred to recreate the mutation, the physical features, within the bird family.

NOTE: It has come to our attention that of the nine African Lovebird breeds, one is not extinct, but is in decline. According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-cheeked_Lovebird, the Black-cheeked Lovebird "is listed as a vulnerable species since it has a small population which is in decline due to continuous habitat loss, particularly due to gradual desiccation of water bodies." The source cited by Wikipedia is BirdLife International (2013). "Agapornis nigrigenis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013

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