History Of The
WBO BACKGROUND Whenever overseas budgerigar fanciers met at World Conventions organised by the Budgerigar Society of Great Britain (B.S.) (1975, 1985 & 1990) they always expressed a desire for the B.S. to organise an International Organisation. This desire was based on the need for closer co-operation between countries due to the greater movement of birds and exchange of judges. Overseas fanciers generally looked to the B.S. for a lead due to the fact that the B.S. had been established since 1925. This was answered when the General Council of the B.S. allocated the sum of £5000 to set up meetings of international representatives. As chairman of the B.S. at the time, Roger Carr asked a fellow councillor, Geoff Bostock, to organise the first International Delegates Meeting. This was held in November 1992 in Doncaster, England. Delegates from 15 countries attended and it was agreed that the International Organisation would be formed and would operate in an Advisory Role. Objectives, aims and priorities were set with issues such as the Ideal Budgerigar, Colour Standards, Show Cage, Research, Ring Colours, Structure of the Organisation, International Judges Panel, Judges Training, Anti Bird Keeping Lobby and many others discussed and carried forward to the next meeting. This was arranged for November 1993 at Doncaster, again to coincide with the B.S. Club Show. It was agreed that the official language would be English.
At the second meeting in November 1993, delegates from 14 countries attended and the items discussed at the first meeting were again discussed and received backing from the organisations that the delegates represented. At that meeting the historical decision was taken that resulted in the World Budgerigar Organisation (WBO) being formed with effect from 1st April 1994. A draft constitution was agreed upon with voting powers depending on the size of the society. Roger Carr was elected Chairman and Geoff Bostock Secretary/Treasurer. The first official meeting of the WBO was organised in August 1994 at Karlsruhe, Germany to coincide with the European Championship Show. The first official meeting of the WBO Video The first official meeting of the WBO was attended by members from 18 countries. The WBO met again in June 1995 at Scarborough, England to coincide with the World Convention organised by the B.S. and again in November 1996 at Kassel, Germany to coincide with the AZ Bundesschu. Other meetings were held in the United Kingdom in November 1997, Karlsruhe, Germany in August 1998, Goteborg, Sweden in September 1999 and again in June 2000 in Eastbourne, England to coincide with the B.S. World Millennium Convention. The next meeting is planned for November 2001 in Germany. FORMAT It was agreed from the outset that all decisions taken by the General Council of the WBO would have to be ratified by member countries. It was also envisaged that not all decisions reached by the WBO could be adopted by member countries. However, for an organisation in its infancy, the progress has been much greater than ever envisaged when considering an international body which meets, at most, once a year and considering all the difficulties of different languages and the time taken for interpretation during the meeting. The friendship and agreement between the delegates has been nothing short of astonishing and co-operation between member countries continues to flourish because of the will of delegates and their countries for the international organisation to succeed. After five years in the position of secretary/treasurer Geoff Bostock stepped down and Ghalib Al-Nasser, a United Kingdom delegate, took over the role as from 1st April 1997. MEMBERS The following countries were members of the WBO by end of 1999: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Eire, France, Germany, Holland, Israel, Italy, Malta, Norway, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States. OBJECTIVES See the Constitution DECISIONS Summary of decisions taken and other relevant information adopted as WBO policy since the first International Meeting: LANGUAGE The official language of the WBO to be English and all documents sent from the WBO and received by the Secretary to be in English. However, it was also agreed that any document could be translated to other languages for easy understanding by member countries. CONSTITUTION A Constitution was agreed at the initial meetings and was last revised in September 1999. Any new country wishing to join the WBO will have to agree to the Constitution prior to joining. RING COLOUR The WBO adopted the following ring colour sequence to be effective as from 1997: Silver (1997), Dark Blue (1998), Gold (1999), Dark Green (2000), Dark Red (2001) and Black (2002). It is recognised that some countries have special problems that may prevent them from total acceptance of the colour sequence. IDEAL BUDGERIGAR The WBO description of the Ideal Budgerigar is "The length of the Ideal Budgerigar shall be a minimum of 8½ inches (216 mm) from the crown to the tip of the tail. However, the Budgerigar is essentially a bird of balance and style and this should always be taken into consideration." INTERNATIONAL JUDGES PANEL A WBO International Judges Panel was created and to be eligible for inclusion on this Panel a judge must meet the following criteria:
Reimbursement of expenses is a matter for discussion between the judge and the organisation issuing the invitation. A WBO International Judges List is now available from the Secretary. It was also agreed that member countries should consider inviting judges from overseas who are members of the International Judges Panel, as approved by the WBO, to judge at shows under their jurisdiction. SHOW CAGE
COLOUR STANDARDS It was agreed from the start that the B.S. Colour Standards book would be used as the basis of the WBO Colour Standards. A Standards Sub-Committee was formed to look at the variations of the Colour Standards from member countries prior to putting forward their recommendations and suggestions for discussion at future WBO meetings. By the 2000 meeting the WBO Colour Standards for most Colour Groups have been completed and awaiting ratification by Member Countries. The WBO will consider an artist's impression of the Ideal Budgerigar and a 3-dimensional model of the Ideal after completion of the Colour Standards. SCALE OF POINTS At the 1998 meeting the WBO agreed, through the work of the Standards Sub-Committee, that the Scale of Points for the Ideal Budgerigar should be divided into five sub-headings but that points will only be allocated when the full Colour Standards work has been completed:
ROSETTES
RESEARCH The WBO encourages member countries to share and exchange Research papers and articles of importance between themselves after obtaining the author's permission. Every year finances are set aside to meet the costs of translations and dissemination of research information to member organisations. ANTI BIRD KEEPING LOBBY The WBO has opened a file with the intention of collecting information that can be used in a defence strategy against the Anti Bird Keeping Lobby. Finances are set aside to meet expenses incurred in taking counter action against this lobby. INTERPRETERS A German/English interpreter has been engaged at all WBO meetings and recently it was agreed that delegates who do not speak fluent English or German may, by arrangement with the Secretary, bring along their own interpreters at no cost to the WBO. OTHER ISSUES The WBO at the moment discussing, with the assistance of its affiliated countries, and in the process of formulating policies on other issues of importance such as Transportation of birds across countries, Ring specification, Falling membership, Watering of birds at shows and Artificial insemination. REPRESENTATION From the outset it was agreed that the affiliation subscription to the WBO and the voting rights would be based on a sliding scale linked to the total membership at the end of a country's financial year. Where a country does not have a single National Budgerigar Society but more than one society then each society can apply for membership to the WBO. The maximum number of delegates attending per country is two. Membership of the WBO is open to any National Budgerigar Society (or societies) that conform to the Constitution and apply in writing to the Secretary. See Application For Membership For further informations about the WBO contact:Secretary/Treasurer: Email: ghalib.alnasser@gmail.com |
