The Budgerigar Society World Championship Show 2010

Uniform display cages line specially erected shelves in every direction Photograph: Asadour Guzelian for the Guardian In each cage sits a single budgie, the result of years, sometimes decades, of careful breeding Photograph: Asadour Guzelian for the Guardian This room contains many, perhaps most, of the best-looking budgies on the planet – more than 2,000 birds Photograph: Asadour Guzelian for the Guardian This is, if you like, the Crufts of the budgie world Photograph: Asadour Guzelian for the Guardian Today, there are a little over 3,000 members of the Budgerigar Society Photograph: Asadour Guzelian for the Guardian The average age of breeders at the show is somewhere around 60, and what few new recruits there are come almost exclusively from budgie-fancier families Photograph: Asadour Guzelian for the Guardian There are 90 different trophies to be won, with categories for breeders of every aptitude from beginner to champion, and birds of every colour, from albinos and cinnamons to sky blues and opalines Photograph: Asadour Guzelian for the Guardian A panel of 15 judges deliberate for hours over the results Photograph: Asadour Guzelian for the Guardian It takes 13 years, and three exams, to qualify as a Budgerigar Society judge Photograph: Asadour Guzelian for the Guardian This year's show-winner, a grey-green male with puffy yellow head-feathers, belongs to Les Martin Photograph: Asadour Guzelian for the Guardian