NQBZ Report June 2026

North Queensland Budgerigar Zone May Report

By Michael Pace, President – North Queensland Budgerigar Zone Inc.

Zone Selection Show and Meeting

The North Queensland Budgerigar Zone held its annual get together in Townsville on the weekend of 16 and 17 May. The annual meeting brought together the five clubs within the zone, consisting of Capricornia, Mackay, Townsville, North Queensland and Cairns, with the North Queensland Club hosting the event on a rotational basis.

The meeting was held on Saturday afternoon, with office bearers elected. The President is automatically appointed as the incumbent President of the host zone for the following year. With Mackay Club hosting in 2027, Michael Pace was elected President, Scott Eriksen was elected Secretary, and Bruce Schuster will continue as Treasurer for the foreseeable future.

Michael acknowledged the work of Bill Schultz, Bruce Schuster and Stephanie Fairbank for their efforts during the previous year, particularly Bruce, who was the Coordinator for the ANBC Show in Cairns.

A zone dinner was held at the Dalrymple Hotel on Saturday night. It was a relaxed atmosphere, with some partying taking place due to the influence of a certain show secretary from Mackay. The meals were excellent, and it was a great opportunity to catch up with old and new breeders from across the zone.

The show on Sunday morning was held at the Garbutt Community Centre, with an early start due to several members facing an eight or nine-hour return drive home that afternoon or the following day. This was an amazing display of passion and commitment to the hobby. After the birds were checked and a few hiccups were resolved, judging commenced at 9.00am. The judges were Ian Schneider, Scott Eriksen and Bruce Schuster.

There was optimism among most breeders, following North Queensland’s most successful team result ever in Cairns, where the zone accumulated the most points in its history. Everyone was hopeful of building on that momentum.

In general, the judges were happy with the birds presented for team selection, with strong Normal and Dominant variety birds and some individually strong birds in other classes. However, depth was still lacking in some varieties, which is something the zone will need to address moving forward. As Ali would say, “Yes, we can”.

The team was checked, details were recorded, and points were tallied. Once again, Capricornia was named Champion Club with a dominant points tally, followed by Mackay, Cairns, North Queensland and Townsville.

After the raffle, presentation of rosettes and the announcement of the Champion Club, the cleaning and sorting of birds began. Most breeders were able to hit the road around 3.00pm, no doubt pondering the chances of the birds selected and what their pairings need to be in the current breeding season.

It was great to see relative newcomers Raymond Heggie, Bruce Sutcliffe and Jason Major beginning to enjoy the rewards of their hard work in the breeding room, with several of their birds being selected.

Others recognised for their hard work included Peter Drew as Show Secretary, Russell and Cheryl Ogden for checking each bird, Peter Thompson as Show Manager, Michelle Vidler for catering, the numerous stewards, and of course the judges Ian Schneider, Scott Eriksen and Bruce Schuster.

The North Queensland Club is to be congratulated on the running of the show, and the zone now looks forward to 2027 in Mackay. Everything was then placed in the hands of the wonderful carers Russell and Cheryl Ogden, Peter Drew and Doug Wales.

And onto ANBC Southport…

50th Annual Trill™ Expert ANBC National Titles– Southport

The carers got the North Queensland team safely to Southport and did a fantastic job preparing the birds to give their best on the biggest stage of all.

The strength of competition was evident very early, with the Normal classes strong across the board. It had been a couple of years since the zone had won a class, so North Queensland was extremely proud of Townsville stalwart Dave “Brooksy” Brooks, who won his first ever Logie in the Dilute class. This was a fantastic achievement and thoroughly well deserved. Congratulations!

North Queensland High Placings at the 50th Annual Trill™ Expert ANBC National Titles

With so many high placings, it shows there are several breeders knocking on the door for a Logie. This is very encouraging for the zone and should serve as motivation and focus for the coming months with breeding programs.

The events, functions and entertainment were outstanding. On the Perch on Friday night was enjoyable before a beautiful meal. Richard Miller and Ali Bouresli had everyone captivated on Saturday night as they shared their knowledge of this great hobby. The final function, the presentation dinner, with another beautiful meal and dessert, ended the 50th Annual Trill™ Expert ANBC National Titles on a high.

The North Queensland Budgerigar Zone would like to congratulate SQBBA on hosting a fantastic show. The zone would also like to congratulate Norm Wheatley and John Ennis on their entry into the ANBC Hall of Fame. John certainly had a weekend out and impressed everyone with the depth of quality in his birds across numerous varieties.

North Queensland hopes to see as many people as possible at the Capricornia Auction on Sunday, 7 June, where there are always quality birds up for grabs. Good luck with the 2026 breeding season, and the zone looks forward to catching up soon.

Finally, on a very sad note, the Mackay Club recently lost club stalwart Mick Cauchi after a long battle with cancer. Mick was a loyal servant to the club in many roles and will be sadly missed. RIP Mick.

Michael Pace
President – North Queensland Budgerigar Zone Inc.