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Vol 27 Issue 1 • Feb-Mar 2014

Gang Gangs

Crimson Finch

TURQUOISINE PARROT MUTATIONS INDIAN RINGNECK DEEP MUTATION

Pyrrhura Conures

Vol 27 Issue 1 U Feb-Mar 2014

Gang Gangs

Crimson Finch

TURQUOISINE PARROT MUTATIONS INDIAN RINGNECK DEEP MUTATION

COVER IMAGE GANG GANG COCKATOO

BY PETER ODEKERKEN

Pyrrhura Conures

features 5 GREEN-CHEEKED CONURES

By Jade Welch The beauty and relatively quiet, but cheeky nature of Green-cheeked Conures, their free-breeding, range of mutations, and ease of keeping, all make them ideal for breeders of any level of experience.

8 TURQUOISINE PARROTS— SELECTIVE BREEDING

By David Monroger The Opaline mutation, through selective breeding, can increase and improve the intensity and amount of red on the front and the back of Red-bellied and Redfronted birds in this Neophema.

contents Volume 27 Issue 1 18 PYRRHURA CONURES IN EUROPE

By Harrie Oude Weernink There are 24 species of Pyrrhura conure. This article looks at those available in Europe and how new import–export laws are affecting their numbers and availability.

22 ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES AT A ROOST

By Glen Holland The Sociable Weaver shares its intricate nest with other species.

34 DEEP BLUE INDIAN RINGNECK MUTATION

42 UNCOVERING THE POWER OF LIGHT

By Laura Hirst Discover the many positive physiological and behavioural benefits ultraviolet lighting can deliver to birds.

46 LAST GOULDIAN COUNT IN WYNDHAM

By Cheryl Mares The 7th annual Gouldian Finch count was to be the last, and brought together volunteers from across Australia and the world to experience this wonderful ecological adventure for bird-lovers.

By Walter Trabots Time and patience has paid off with proof of a new structural mutation in Australia.

48 NEVILLE CONNORS— A CELEBRATION OF LIFE

regulars

31 YOUNG BIRD KEEPER: FARGO— HIS FANS, FORUM AND FACEBOOK

44 AVIAN HEALTH WITH DR BOB: A PERFECTLY HEALTHY DEAD BIRD

12 FINCH FOCUS: THE MASKED FINCH

By Tabitha Brown

By Dr Bob Doneley

By Russell Kingston Interesting, relatively hardy and ready breeders, Masked Finches make an ideal aviary bird.

15 PET PARROT POINTERS: GABRIEL’S ANGEL—JULIE MURAD AND HER MISSION

By Nicholas Bishop Nicholas shares his visit to the inspiring Julie Murad and The Gabriel Foundation, founded on the principle that all companion birds have the right to stable care throughout their typically long lives—regardless of what happens to their human companions.

24 BREEDING AUSTRALIAN PARROTS: GANG GANG COCKATOOS

By Barry Blanch The Gang Gang is a unique little cockatoo, prized in most bird collections and well sought-after as a pet—but be warned, it is prone to stress and featherplucking if not housed appropriately.

28 FINCH FUNDAMENTALS: CRIMSON (BLOOD) FINCHES

By Marcus Pollard The Crimson Finch gains its name as much from its colour as its at-times aggressive personality.

32 CANARY CHATTER: THE LIZARD CANARY

By Brian Bohl The Lizard Canary is a ‘living antique’—a snapshot of the birds shown on show benches in the Victorian era and before. Brian tells us a little of the history of these unique birds and what makes them special.

38 THE WISE OWL: SUBURBAN GARDENS AS BIRD HIGHWAYS

By Milton Lewis Milton looks at why there is so little diversity in the native birds in our cities and towns, and what we can do to change the situation.

40 HOOKBILL HOBBYIST: THE BENEFITS OF PARENT-REARED BREEDER BIRDS

By EB Cravens It is important for breeders to look at how best to utilise and retain the wild knowledge and innate behaviours of birds for future generations.

By Sheryll Steele-Boyce

The Masking Phenomenon, which helps birds stay alive in the wild by hiding sickness from predators, can lead to seemingly inexplicable deaths in captivity if keepers are not alert to the signs of illness.

52 CONSERVATION

• WPT: Save Africa’s Parrots • Loro Parque: The Lear’s Macaw— A Survival Story

By Dr Matthias Reinschmidt Lear’s Macaw Numbers Rise Despite Drought

By Dr David Waugh 56 WHAT’S NEW

• Pizzey & Knight Birds of Australia Field Guide—Digital Edition • Pure Poultry 57 LAST CHIRP

• Duivenbode’s Lory— Note the Spelling!

By Rosemary Low • Castle Hill Bird Sale

57 classifieds 3

green-cheeked conures

T

he Green-cheeked Conure Pyrrhura molinae, once rare in Australian aviculture, is now somewhat of a staple with keepers of all levels of experience. The establishment of a number of mutations, breeding programs to combine mutations, and the fact that they have become so much more affordable, has seen the popularity of this species explode. Add to this the fact that a license is not required, and the desirability of this beautiful species grows even further. Following is an overview of the basic requirements to keep and breed this species successfully.

HOUSING Green-cheeked Conures will adapt to a range of housing and breed freely. They will need space to fly with some momentum in order to exercise. A suspended aviary with a length of at least 2m x 90cm wide x 90cm high, suits the Green-cheeked Conure as well as other members of the Pyrrhura genus. While many breeders prefer suspended housing for this species, they will do just as well in a conventional aviary measuring at least 2m long x 90cm wide x 2m high.

There has been some colony breeding of these birds but the results have been mixed—one couple on the Gold Coast have had great success. The negatives of colony breeding are not knowing which birds have mated/bred and dominant pairs can block others from breeding.

Double wiring should be installed where pairs are located next to each other to prevent toe-biting. An essential feature of any aviary complex should also be a walkway. This prevents birds that escape from the aviary from being lost to the wild.

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P ODEKERKEN

WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY JADE WELCH

Turquoisine Parrots selective breeding of Red-backed, Red-bellied I have bred Turquoisine Parrots Neophema and Red-fronted birds pulchella since 2004, with a particular interest in the Opaline mutation. I have selectively bred this mutation to develop red on the chest and back of Red-fronted Turquoisine Parrot specimens as well as birds displaying yellow on the chest and belly in Yellow-fronted birds.

In this article, I will discuss the selective breeding of Red-fronted Opaline Turquoisine Parrots.

OPALINE Working with the Opaline mutation brings a lot of satisfaction as well as surprises each breeding season, because in the Opaline, the distribution of psittacin changes symmetrically, so you never know how the young will appear. Each breeding result is different.

The Opaline mutation can increase and improve the intensity and amount of red on the front and the back, however patience, perseverance and the choice of individual pairs are paramount.

It is interesting to note that the red back is expressed differently in males compared to females. In the 2004 breeding results at the beginning of my selection process, females were the first to show a little red between the shoulders as seen in photo 1.

Unfortunately, this orange-red colouring disappeared to a large extent in the first moult. In males, the back showed no red, but the chest colouring was intense as seen in photo 2.

WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAVID MONROGER

Each year, the mutation became stronger and the colouring of the birds became increasingly red. I took care to regularly introduce new blood to avoid inbreeding. Over the years, both size and colour have improved. The red colouration on the back has slowly increased. Males in the first clutches showed, at best, a red feather on the back. This made sexing easy, even before the chicks left the nest. Young females had a small patch on the back, while males were mottled red as seen in photo 3.

The first really interesting results emerged in 2008 as seen in photo 4. Most marked birds were females. The discovery and explosion of colours in the nest was, and still is, a marvel to me.

Photo 3—This Red-fronted Dilute Opaline male bred at the beginning of the selection process in 2008 shows mottled red extending over the back

Photo 4—Young in the nest in 2008

Photo 1—Red-fronted Opaline Turquoisine Parrot female before her first moult in 2004

Photo 2—This Red-fronted Opaline Turquoisine Parrot male bred in 2004 displays red on the chest and green on the back

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WORDS BY BARRY BLANCH PHOTOGRAPHS BY JULIE BLANCH

breeding australian parrots GANG GANG COCKATOOS G INTRODUCTION One of Australia’s smallest cockatoos, the h Gang Gang he Callocephalon fimbriatum is noticeablyy different to all other Australian cockatoos. There are no o subspecies and it is the only member in its genus. This T cockatoo is endemic to Australia and is declining g in sufficient numbers to be considered by the Threatened tened Species Conservation Act 1995 as Vulnerable in n New South Wales. The Gang Gang is the emblem for or the Australian Capital Territory. This species is commonly o only kept by aviculturists with varying breeding success. c cess.

The Gang Gang is a unique little cockatoo, kaatoo, a prized bird in most collections and is sought-after affter as a pet. My interest in breeding this unusual-looking a al-looking cockatoo with its fine, floppy and delicate-looking a ate-looking crest began in the early 1990s when I was waas able to obtain a breeding pair and their young n from ng a successful South Australian breeder. From F visiting aviaries in New South Wales and nd d travelling to Western Australia, I have acquired first-hand knowledge on the keeping and breeding of these enjoyable and relatively quiet birds.

DESCRIPTION The Gang Gang is a stocky, small cockatoo similar in size to the galah Eolophus roseicapillus, although it is unlike all other cockatoo species as the crest on both sexes consists of a few long, fluffy, delicate, wispylooking feathers tumbled and at times curled forward.

Gang Gangs are sexually dimorphic and vary in both head and body colour, making it very easy to Gang Gang pair—male on right distinguish between the sexes. Both male and female birds have a heavy, powerful bone and grey-coloured upper mandible and a wide square lower err bill.

The unusual ‘kyorryak’ sounding call of o the Gang Gang is not unlike a rusty gate hinge and has been likened ik kened to the sound of a cork being pulled up the neck of a bottle.. These birds generally only call in the late evening, early morning, n when feeding and ng, when nesting, otherwise they are reasonably naably quiet unless alarmed.

Males have distinct orange-red feathers on the forehead, lores, light red feathers on the cere and scattered throughout the ear crown, ear coverts and chin, in contrast to the grey body and coverts and bars of the crest. The mature female’s breast and wing plumage. The grey feathers on the front body have a light abdomen feathers have varying widths of reddish-orange and grey scalloped edge, including the vent feathers, while the back lemon barring that increase in number from the throat down. mantle and wing feathers have white scalloped edging. Some of The mantle, undertail coverts and upper wing feathers are also the upper greater primary and secondary wing feathers have an faintly barred and often have an olive tinge. olive tinge. Tail and primary feathers, including the upper tail Immature birds are similar in plumage to females, coverts, are a darker grey. although males are easily identified by the distinct red crown Female Gang Gangs have mainly grey-coloured feathers on feathers showing from 4–5 weeks of age when the crown pin the head and, on close inspection, some females display random feathers break.

24

WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARCUS POLLARD BSc (Hons)

finch fundamentals CRIMSON (BLOOD) FINCHES C The Crimson Finch Neochmia phaeton or Blood Finch, as it is known by most of the older Aussie finch fraternity, is a stunning-looking finch which deserves its name both in regard to colour and personality. Few finches have a presence that comes close to that of the fully-coloured Crimson Finch male.

W

hen I was a lad, these finches were always referred to as ‘Bloods’. Those available at the time were placid in mixed collections, so I assumed they got their name based on their colour alone—boy, how wrong can you be!

These Crimson Finches were derived from wild-caught specimens that were trapped in Western Australia under crop protection legislation and their behaviour was exemplary. Some breeders argued that Crimson Finches from Western Australia were far more placid than their Queensland counterparts, but never having kept Queensland-derived birds, I am unable to comment further.

Now, I am guessing that most finchos at one time or another have contemplated purchasing a pair of these guys, but may have been put off by the negative press about their temperament and compatibility—well, I’m not going to enhance that much, but read on.

IN THE WILD The Crimson Finch comes in two basic varieties or races, of which the Black-bellied Neochmia phaeton is the most common in captivity. They range across the top-end of Australia from the Kimberley region, through the Northern Territory to a large part of Queensland. The White-bellied Neochmia phaeton evangelinae hails from the Cape York region of Queensland, where there is one known population on the east coast and three populations along the western coast which are the subject of a National Recovery Plan.

As with the Hooded Parrot Psephotus dissimilis and the Golden-shouldered Parrot P. chrysopterygius, the major reason behind the demise of the White-bellied Crimson appears to be inappropriate fire and cattle grazing regimes. This is unfortunately an all-too-familiar scenario for a number of our native wildlife, both feathered and furred.

Wild Behaviour Aggressive behaviour of males towards each other may simply be a ref lection of the captive environment because in the wild small f locks are commonly composed of a number of males of different ages. My first glimpse of Crimson Finches in the wild was at the Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary in the Kimberley during a Gouldian Count. Having just completed the dawn patrol, I was disappointed that I hadn’t seen any during the count, so set off to drown my sorrows with an early morning caffeine hit. I was stating my disappointment to Mike Fidler while we were strolling back to the car surrounded by a f lock of Yellow-billed Longtails when he grabbed my arm and pointed underneath the vehicle itself. There, hopping about in the shade of the car was a f lock of about 20 birds! The f lock was composed of a lot of half-coloured males, a few fully coloured males and females of varying ages.

After that initial sighting, Crimson Finches were seen regularly throughout the camp grounds and usually in an area close to the stream that ran through the site. So popular were they that a stump was set up near the barbecue area and a packet of bird seed left so you could sprinkle a few goodies onto the stump and watch the Crimsons come in to feed. I must admit that I didn’t see a lot of other finches in association with the Crimsons—they kept pretty much to themselves. These little mini-flocks were to become a common sight throughout the camp site while I was there and were far less flighty than the majority of finches in the region.

Crimson Finch male

IN CAPTIVITY

Crimson Finch at Mornington, Western Australia

28

By all accounts there are a few White-Bellied Crimson Finches scattered through our aviaries, so there may be some hope for the future of the species, albeit in captivity. Apparently the males are softer in the White-bellied form, whereas the opposite is true for the Black-bellied form. Never having kept the Whitebellied, my comments from this point refer only to the Blackbellied Crimson.

deep blue

WORDS WOR RDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY WALTER TRABOTS

INDIAN RINGNECK

From left: Deep Blue, Blue and Dark Blue Indian Ringnecks

34

MUTATION