parakeet strange behavior

Question
Hi my boyfriend has a parakeet who normally is rather active, but here lately she hasn't been moving.  She is staying on onside of her cage, and even seems to "fall" to the bottom.  She is the only bird in the cage ( a couple of months ago the other parakeet that lived in the cage, passed a way.)  My boyfriend thinks that she sudenly has gone blind, he is very upset about this as am I.  He isn't sure how old the bird is, but we estimate maybe around 7 years old.  I don't know what the sex of the bird is, I always just call her she, but she hasn't been eating or drinking her water unless my boyfriend puts the dish infront of her.  I know I haven't really asked a question, but I don't really know what to ask...could it be she is getting old?, or maybe she is sick?, or if she has gone blind what can we do for her?  He and I are at an absolute lost.  Any help you can offer would be most appreciated by both of us.  Also I am not cold towards the bird, when I refer to it as "the bird", I am just trying to protect my boyfriends privacy.

Answer
It sounds to me like your boyfriend's parakeet is very ill. The symptoms you've described are classic of a very sick budgie... You need to get her to a vet asap! Especially if your previous bird died about two months ago- if it was disease related, it could just now be taking its toll on the second bird.

You can search for an avian vet in your area at these websites:

http://www.parrotpro.com/avianlst.htm

http://www.birdsnways.com/articles/abvpvets.htm

and

www.aav.org

Good Luck- and I hope everything turns out alright.

-Maggie