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Vol 26 Issue 11 • Oct-Nov 2013

Anvstiraucrtiyon

Amazons

Co

DIAMOND FIREFINCH

DIETS DISEASE PREVENTION

Duyvenbode’s Lory PLUM-HEADED FINCH

SULPHUR-CRESTED COCKATOOS Member

birdkeeper.com.au

contents

Volume 26 Issue 11

Features

Regulars

Amazon Parrots— A Different Approach to Rearing

688 Breeding Australian Parrots: Sulphur-crested Cockatoos

By Robert and Josie Pollard

By Barry Blanch

722 Avian Health with Dr Bob: Biosecurity—Keeping Your Birds Healthy By Dr Bob Doneley

There are no set rules for managing Amazon parrots, but keeping the number of birds for which you have the time and money to care properly is part of the secret to really enjoying aviculture.

Arguably one of the most recognised parrots in the Australian backyard, the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, affectionately known as ‘Cocky’, is not without its problems, including noise and potential aggression, but it is also intelligent, social and devoted to its keeper.

Biosecurity simply involves practices that prevent the spread of infection throughout a collection. While many keepers see these practices as ‘too difficult’ or ‘unnecessary’, they ultimately pay the price in treatment expenses and loss of stock.

692 Pet Parrot Pointers: The Training Toolkit—Diet

725 Canary Chatter: Type Canaries

By Jim McKendry

Brian’s series on Type Canaries continues, this issue focusing on the Norwich and Australian Plainhead Canaries, which have a unique link.

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698 Aviary Construction

By Peter Odekerken

This article deals with the materials most frequently used in aviary building today and provides some ideas on how best you can have the aviary you desire.

704 Attracting the Right Birds to Our Gardens By David Pace Nest boxes, if properly managed, can help struggling native species, but so too can better designing our gardens, community parks and streetscapes.

706 Protecting Your Aviaries from Birds of Prey By Drew Smith You don’t need a gun to deal with troublesome birds of prey!

713 Adding Validity to the Eclectus

Subspecies E. r. biaki By Peter Odekerken

Close observation of live E. r. biaki specimens in an island zoo confirms for Peter his belief that this is a distinct subspecies.

714 Duyvenbode’s Lory

By Peter Odekerken

Little is known of this species in the wild, however, in captivity it is regarded as easy to care for and parents well.

By Brian Bohl

To help ensure your birds consume a nutritionally balanced diet, apply Jim’s simple three-step process of identifying, modifying and managing what your parrots eat.

695 Finch Focus: Diamond Firetail

• WPT: Story of Hope

Diamond Firetails have been a popular inclusion in collections since the earliest days. They are generally not expensive, are hardy, good breeders and not aggressive towards other birds.

Jane Goodall releases the first confiscated Grey Parrots back to the wild in Africa with the support of WPT. • Loro Parque Fundación News

Finches By Russell Kingston

702 Hookbill Hobbyist:

732 Young Bird Keeper:

Raising Nursery Babies in Baskets

By EB Cravens

After years of experimenting with different types of containers to hold baby parrots taken into the nursery for hand-feeding, natural, woven baskets have come up trumps due to the number of practical advantages they offer to growing birds.

710 Finch Fundamentals:

The Plum-headed Finch By Marcus Pollard

World By Ray Dorge

When spring fever hits and the hormones abound, you can expect to see some unusual behaviour in your parrot.

716 The Wise Owl: Canola— More Food for Thought By Milton Lewis

720 Laughingthrushes By Ron Toft 728 Art Space • There’s an Art to Conservation

By Rhonda Barbut

• Queensland Wildlife Artists Society 30th Anniversary By Sandra Temple

Milton’s last article on feeding canola to canaries stimulated a response from readers. In this issue he discusses concerns and puts forward further s. scientific evidence for his beliefs.

9RO ,VVXH 2FW 1RY

Cover Image Duyvenbode’s Lory

by Peter Odekerken

By Carolyn Pradun, Desi Milpacher & Cristiana Senni

By Dr Matthias Reinschmidt

The humble Plum-headed Finch is often overlooked, but these unassuming and somewhat frail birds look spectacular when that claret-coloured flash glints in the summer sun, and are a pleasure to keep.

718 Spring Fever in the Parrot

730 Conservation:

y Aviartion

Amazons

Construc

DIAMOND FIREFINCH

Meet My Collection By Hayden Schubert

734 Birdzone Advertorial Natural, Healthy Foods for Happy Birds

735 Mailbag 736 Last Chirp • Get Hands-On At Future Vet Kids Camp • National Finch and Softbill Census Time • Finches 14 Presents Real-world Approach

738 Classifieds

For Sale Wanted Bird Behaviourists Pet Adoption Bird Sales and Conventions Avicultural Organisations Avian Veterinarians

DIETS DISEASE PREVENTION

Duyvenbode’s Lory PLUM-HEADED FINCH

Member

SULPHUR-CRESTED COCKATOOS

ELUGNHHSHU FRP DX

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the team...

EDITORIAL CONSULTANTS

from the editor A

VES organisers Neville and Noddy Connors and supporters should be proud of proceedings at their August convention in Grafton. Speakers imparted some great information, which was much appreciated by attendees, and the social gatherings and entertainment added plenty of variety to the event.

I had the pleasure of joining the audience for the Sunday lectures after packing up our trade stand the previous afternoon—a nice change which gave me the opportunity to absorb the varied program. I particularly enjoyed Claus Nielsen’s picturesque presentation on Pyrrhura Conure mutations and Morten Bruun-Rasmussen’s talk on the Golden-shouldered Parrot, as well as Tony Silva’s revelations regarding the natural habitat and habits of macaws and Amazon Parrots with insight into genetic bottlenecks that can occur when a number of species inhabit an area. Jim McKendry also sparked discussion with his thoughtprovoking attitude towards bird keeping and its inherent responsibilities.

On the previous days, highlights included Jason Shane’s talk on Quaker mutations and Eric Antheunisse’s presentation on conure breeding. Congratulations to all for yet another quality event! Long live AVES! In this edition of Australian BirdKeeper, we look at why parrots change their personalities and behaviour with the onset of spring. Ray Dorge, author of A Guide to Pet and Companion Birds, takes time out to cover a few questions relating to these behavioural changes, such as mating rituals, nipping and aggression, on page 718.

What I particularly enjoy about EB Cravens’ Hookbill Hobbyist column is his alternative attitude to parrot rearing. It is all too easy to fall into a routine in the way we care for neonates, so it is stimulating when someone comes up with an alternative method/idea to hopefully improve the lifestyle of these newcomers—actions which may affect their behaviour in the future. See page 702.

In Pet Parrot Pointers, Jim McKendry presents some great guidelines for analysing what your birds are actually consuming from their daily food offerings. If you are looking for ways of reducing waste and motivating your birds to select more fresh foods and nutritionally formulated dietary components versus seeds and nuts, this segment is a must-read—see page 692.

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The speaker line-up for Finches—Our Future, the 15th International Finch Convention to be held in Brisbane on 4–6 July 2014, is impressive. See page 737.

The event will also provide an opportunity for the delegates to participate in hands-on activities and workshops including health and live food techniques. Check out full details at www.qfs.org.au or contact Gary Fitt at gary.fitt@bigpond.com. Early bird registration is just $275 and expires on 15 January 2014. Full registration costs $325 and must be received by 13 June 2014.

Limited accommodation is available at the venue—book now!

An initiative of the National Finch and Softbill Association, the next bi-annual census is being conducted from August 2013 to January 2014. Anonymous participation assists in compiling a valuable record that will provide insight into the variety of species kept in captivity—vital if we are to conserve decreasing numbers before it is too late. Please give your support.

The census form at www.qfs.org.au or email us at birdkeeper@birdkeeper.com.au. For more details on this census, see page 737.

ABK, like others, have put quite an effort into encouraging young bird keepers to enter the Syd Smith writing competition— however, we are very low on entries this year. We need your help to support a young person to share their bird experiences and have the opportunity to win some great prizes—see page 732 or contact me on birdkeeper@birdkeeper.com.au.

I hope there are a good number of chirps in your nest boxes and on perches this season. We would love to hear about your successes—so please call or email us and share your stories.

Successful breeding!

Peter Odekerken

Russell Kingston

Dr Terry Martin

Dr Bob Doneley

Jim McKendry

REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS

Dr Milton Lewis

EB Cravens

Barry Blanch

Marcus Pollard

Brian Bohl

Sheryll Steele-Boyce PUBLISHER Sheryll Steele-Boyce

EDITORIAL CONSULTANT Alison Houston

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Melinda Leu

ADVERTISING AND MARKETING Sheryll Steele-Boyce

WRITERS Robert and Josie Pollard, Barry Blanch, Jim McKendry, Russell Kingston, Peter Odekerken, EB Cravens, David Pace, Drew Smith, Marcus Pollard, Milton Lewis, Ray Dorge, Ron Toft, Dr Bob Doneley, Brian Bohl, Sandra Temple, Rhonda Barbut, Carolyn Pradun, Desi Milpacher, Cristiana Senni, Dr Matthias Reinschmidt, Hayden Schubert and Gary Fitt.

EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS ARE MOST WELCOME SUBSCRIPTION, ORDER & ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES

Telephone: 07 5568 0011 Fax: 07 5568 0300 Email: birdkeeper@birdkeeper.com.au www.birdkeeper.com.au

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Amazon Parrots WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY ROBERT AND JOSIE POLLARD

A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO REARING

Blue-fronted Amazons

There are no set rules for managing Amazon parrots— every aviculturist has their own ideas, some more successful than others.

Double Yellow-headed Amazon

BREEDING AND HOUSING We used to handrear from the egg but now we let all the parents rear their own chicks. In the past two years we have only lost two chicks through young parents learning—and we breed a lot of Amazons, mainly Blue-fronted and Yellow-crowned. We have now set up several pairs of young unrelated Double Yellow-headed Amazons, which we hope to breed successfully as well.

We house all the Amazons next to each other. They can see each other, but the cages are double-wired to avoid biting toes.

We do not alter this set-up even in the breeding season. On the contrary, we believe it encourages them to breed.

The younger birds imitate the breeding pairs to such an extent that we place breeding boxes in their aviary and the young females sit in their box as if they have eggs. They have surprised us by even laying a clear egg or two. We jokingly call this the motel arrangement.

NESTING We breed our birds in American boot boxes, better known as the L-box. In the toe of the box, I screw a piece of pine timber across the front for the female to chew while sitting on her eggs.

When the chicks are born, we take the nest boxes down, remove the chicks and replace the bedding every week until the chicks have left the nest. We place rings on the chicks at approximately 16 days. The parents never attack us as we do this regularly, and they come to just accept it, however it is a practice that some people may have a problem with as some Blue-fronted Amazons can be nasty.

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on Australian Finches

THE DIAMOND FIRETAIL FINCH

WORDS, PHOTOGRAPHS AND ILLUSTRATION

BY RUSSELL KINGSTON OAM

Diamond Firetail Finch female—note the light red mandible and pale eye ring

Diamond Firetailed Finch male—note the dark red mandible

T

excursions.

In the 1980s and ’90s, well-known houghts about Diamond Firetail Finches e aviculturist, Les Milton, from Muswellbrook in Stagonopleura guttata conjure up a the th New South Wales Hunter Valley—without reminiscences of my youth, when we would doubt the best bushman and bird identifier I d venture up into Queensland’s Granite Belt to trap ever knew—would regale us with stories about e Diamonds and other species such as Turquoise Diamonds in that region. On occasion, he D Parrots Neophema pulchella, Plum-headed would take me out to show me their nests and w Finches Neochmia modesta and Zebra Finches habits in the wild. h Taeniopygia guttata.

Distribution of the Diamond Like all excursions in those days, the Firetailed Finch—a diminishing area IN THE WILD success rate varied. However, these were not I do not recall seeing large flocks of Diamonds. commercial trapping trips and it was not all S Small groups of up to about 15 birds, pairs about bird numbers. More important was the companionship of or individuals, were the norm. The best time to see them in the mates and living rough in the bush. Some of the country around wild is early morning through to about 9am and in the afternoons the Severn River is very rugged—hot in summer and winters with after 3pm. In the middle of the day they roost high up in eucalypts snow, ice and frost. Other times were spent on the stone fruit where they will sit quite still, either dozing, preening or allopreening orchard of family friends outside Stanthorpe, where the birds and can be quite difficult to spot. would come to the irrigation dam to drink. Occasionally, nests could be found in the tops of fruit trees or within blackberry Nesting entanglements that had consumed fences.

Diamond Firetails construct large nests out of twigs, leaves and We learned much about Diamond Firetails in those days, coarse grasses. Usually the surrounding leaves of the sapling, bush although we did not know them as such back then. To us they or eucalypt are woven into the nest walls. This provides additional were Diamond Sparrows. Other common names used to describe strength as well as camouflage. The interior, or egg chamber, is the species were Diamonds and Diamies. They were a much lined with soft grasses and feathers. Diamonds appear to have a sought-after species and any excess birds could be exchanged fascination with soft, white feathers. Sometimes an individual will for other, less available finches. pick up such a feather and ‘play’ with it for a considerable time— There were just two rules in trapping—you never took adult birds carrying it around, dropping it, then diving down to grab it in the or more birds than you needed. We always made sure that adults mandible as it floats down. We sometimes used this attraction for were released to continue breeding and that enough juveniles white feathers to our advantage. We would place some feathers were returned to make up for predation and natural attrition. It in our treadle traps or funnel traps and on several occasions we was not that we were conscious of conservation issues back snared Diamonds without using any bird seed. then. After all, trapping birds was a common practice among A popular nest site is in the leafy thicket at the top of young our contemporaries. Rather, it was to ensure that there was a trees or saplings. Diamonds have also adopted the practice of viable population of Diamond Sparrows to tap into during future most Australian finches of locating the nest within or close to

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y r a i v A onstruction— C WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY PETER ODEKERKEN

A well designed place using an finch aviary block— note the at you from any sh tractive Colorbond ® strip w wire is held in hich also protec arp wire cut-of ts fs

T

here he h eree are aree obviously obv bvio ious io ussly ly many man anyy designs d si de signs gn ns for fo or an a aviary avi v ar a y structure, stru st tru r ct ruct c ur uree, and and probably as many styles to suit certain species and individual aviculturists’ personal preferences. This article deals with the materials used most frequently in aviary construction today and provides some ideas on how best you can get the aviary you desire.

Remember when considering construction of an aviary that it is best to contact the local authorities to be aware of their requirements for building a structure on your land.

Often these can appear to be over the top as far as an aviary structure is concerned, but failure to construct an aviary to their specifications could lead to them requesting the aviary be removed from the block.

DIY or Use an Aviary Builder?

The main decision is whether you are capable of doing the welding yourself or need to use an aviary builder. Sometimes it appears quite expensive to buy aviaries made to a set design or custom-

anised tube that is welded A suspended aviary design using galv water pipe d aand then supported on galvanised roun

made ma ade de tto o yo your ur rrequirements ur equi eq uiirre u em me en ntts by aviary avi viar ar y builders, ary ar bu uillde ders rs, and rs, rs a d you an yo ou feel feel fe e that tha hatt made you can build the aviary more cheaply yourself.

However, when you factor in the various elements such as cost of materials, hire or purchase of a welding machine and your labour and time, you will be surprised at just how reasonably these aviaries are priced! I would say that you would be doing yourself a service by getting the aviary made by a quality craftsman and you suffer a lot less stress in letting them do the job efficiently and cost-effectively!

Flooring As far as the aviary floor, I recommend a concrete slab to exclude vermin. I love a good natural dirt floor, but they are hard to maintain and if vermin do get in, they are hard to eradicate. Dirt floors can also be a source for worm egg longevity and bacterial infection. With a bare concrete floor, the sun will dry out and kill these two threats to your birds’ health.

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WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY DR MILTON LEWIS BSc (Hons) PhD

CANOLA—MORE FOOD FOR THOUGHT

I

t appears I sparked a little interest and concern within my readers in the last edition of Australian BirdKeeper when I decided to weigh up the pros and cons of including canola Brassica napus in the diet of my breeding canaries and their nestlings. Just to recap the situation— through a series of unrelated conversations with senior conservation ecologists across Australia, I was made aware of some possible toxic side-effects for birds feeding on canola. I used this seed extensively with my own canaries and had observed a few mysterious deaths where autopsied birds displayed small haemorrhages to the liver and slight lethargy before death. I followed the new lead and found that rapeseed and new varieties of canola contained a toxic substance known as glucosinolate that aided in defence against insect attack. Unfortunately, this same substance was known to cause the same symptoms in laying poultry as I had observed in my own birds. My conclusion was that I should cease the use of canola when feeding my breeding females, or at least reduce the percentages substantially to those recommended from scientific publications produced by researchers in the poultry industry.

I withheld my decision on how much canola I might include in the seed mix during the non-breeding season.

THE RESPONSE Firstly, I would like to say thank you to everyone who read my last article and then sat back and thought a little about how they feed their canaries. I am pleased that I was able to share with you some very basic information about what might be in the seeds you provide for your birds. I feel strongly about my duty to pass on any information I have that may help in the process of providing quality care for our birds. Of course some of the conclusions are my opinion, but it is always based on whatever unbiased published literature I am able to obtain. These articles hopefully promote positive, open discussion and enough information for you to begin your own investigation.

Some of my readers were concerned how the information I provided may impact in their bird rooms. That is exactly what I wanted, because when I was made aware of the possible consequences of incorporating excessive quantities of glucosinolates in the diet of my birds, I was also concerned. I had been feeding canola to my birds in ratios that could quite easily have exceeded 50% of the seed component (not total component).

I am unable to give an exact figure because there were preference differences shown by some birds which affected how much canola was consumed compared to other seeds in their dry mix. However all my birds ate 100% of the sprouting mix that contained at least 80% canola. This is well beyond the levels in which toxic effects were observed in poultry.

Brian Bohl, in particular, questioned my arguments in light of his own investigations and the published literature of several seed companies (see his letter on page 735). As I clearly stated in my article, there is a current breeding program within grain-producing companies to develop strains of canola that are very low in levels of toxic glucosinolates. In particular the current strain referred to as ‘00’ has lower glucosinolate levels (less than 30µm/g), but these levels are still not zero. Although Brian suggests that tested levels are below 10µm/g, published accounts from tested crops across New South Wales are around 13µm/g.

I suggest, however, that these limits have nothing to do with the

716

toxic limit in a canary. To the best of my knowledge there has been no published test of this in canaries, but numerous reports for poultry indicate varying degrees of negative effects when canola is included in the diet—particularly for breeding hens and very young chicks. This is not the case for mammals, and it appears that the toxic limits for cattle and humans are much higher.

WHAT STUDIES HAVE FOUND In a report prepared by the Australian Oilseed Federation in 2004, the author suggests that there is no evidence that glucosinolates in canola (not rapeseed) are a problem when feeding livestock.

However, I certainly found published feeding trials of the same time period investigating glucosinolate levels that indicated there was a problem for poultry.

Najib et al (2004) explicitly tested the effects of incorporating different levels of canola seed (Type 00, less than 30 µm/g) in the diets of laying hens. Their treatment used five levels of whole canola ranging from zero to 30%. This study did not analyse or report on death rates but noted that at 20% and 30% levels of dietary supplementation, birds produced fewer eggs and that those eggs were of lower weight. Although the authors remark in the introduction of the paper that levels below 20 µm/g should be of little or no harm to poultry, they acknowledge that it is conceivable that erucic acid and glucosinolates could have been the reason for their results. Their final conclusion is that adding 10% whole canola to the diet of laying hens caused no harmful effects, but they gave a guarded suggestion of only incorporating 5% for maximum benefit.

Talebali et al (2005) experimentally manipulated the amount of canola seed (0, 3, 6, 9, 12%) and measured growth rate, feed intake, feed conversion and liver weight in 300 day-old Arian chickens for a period of 42 days. This experiment also showed that the group fed the highest level of canola displayed statistically higher feed intake levels (ate more food, but not just canola), had the poorest feed conversion rates, but no difference in final carcass weights.

Therefore, the experiment showed that in order to reach the same final body weight, more food was consumed, which lends little support to the argument that adding extra canola to the diet is worthwhile. Again, mortality of chicks was not reported and I had no way of checking through the statistical analysis because the details were not provided.

A similar experiment by Perez-Maldonado (DPI Queensland) concluded that a diet containing 20% canola meal could be used for starter chicks (1–21 days) and increased to 30% at the finishing phase for broilers. However this was only for canola meal that had been solvent-extracted, which significantly reduces the proportion of the glucosinolates, so the experiment, although sounding positive for the use of canola as a feed source, has not tested for the toxic effects of glucosinolates. In another test of the effects of canola 00 in the diet of broiler chickens, Szmeczko et al (2010) again showed that increasing levels of dietary canola reduced feed intake, feed efficiency index and had poor feed conversion rates.

I could go on with more examples of published papers with similar results, but the general idea is that you can feed too much 00 canola, and the results are clearest in the youngest birds (1–21 days).

The most conclusive evidence was reported within a Canadian

WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY PETER ODEKERKEN

T

he Duyvenbode’s Lory Chalcopsitta duivenbodei is also referred to as the Brown Lory. This name does not conjure up a colourful image, especially for a bird which is part of the gaudy Loriidae family of parrots. However, when you have the chance to see this bird in the flesh, you will be mesmerised by its beauty, as the accompanying images attest.

There is one recognised subspecies C. d. syringanuchalis which differs from the nominate by having a darker brown head and back, with a violet wash. The species’ range is from north-western Papua in Indonesia through to Astrolabe Bay in Papua New Guinea. The subspecies is found in the eastern region of this range.

I was fortunate to see this species in the wild at Nimbokrang in Papua, but it was only a quick sighting of four birds flying past me and my friend Mehd Halaouate. Mehd sent me images of a pair interested in a nest being used by Salvadori’s Fig Parrot a few years ago. Certainly an incredible photographic opportunity, since both species have rarely been photographed in the wild.

IN THE WILD Relatively little is known of this species in the wild because of its remote habitat. A lowland species, it is found in rainforest up to 200m in elevation and it navigates cleared habitat to access suitable feeding areas. It is also found in coastal areas, where it ut plantations, although may prove to be a regular visitor to coconut e extremely hot and this has not been recorded. The conditionss are humid. irds,, it is likely that Usually found in small groups of 4–6 birds, th that th hat season’s when 3–4 birds are seen, it is parents with ril, but b no doubt young. Nesting has been recorded in April, could be throughout the year, depending on availability of food. e shouting sho outing Display is usually performed by the male astin ng and flapping his wings, showing the contrasting e yellow underwings and fanning of the tail while he hopping animatedly along a branch near the abou ut and female. Pairs can be very vocal, jumping about mock-fighting.

IN CAPTIVITY Feeding Duyvenbode’s Lory is easy to cater for in captivity, captivity, miixture requiring a wet mix. I feed all my lories on a mixture h using Pro-Nutro™ (a South African cereal for human consumption) which is low in iron, and to which is added fine-blended plain biscuit ™, such as Arnott’s Nice™ or Milk Arrowroot™, wheatgerm, Sustagen® Hospital Formula (providing additional carbohydrates, malte ed milk protein, vitamins and minerals), and also malted roze en mixed powder with a pinch of salt. To this I add frozen nd blended. bllended. vegetables, which have been defrosted and th I then add just enough honey or raw sugarr wit with water to sweeten the mix. w Fruit such as apples, pears, rock melon,, paw

714

Duyvenbode’s Lory male showing the shaft streaks on the nape and side of the head common to most members of the genus, except the Cardinal Lory