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T H E P R E M I E R P E T & AV I A RY B I R D M AG A Z I N E VO L 3 0 I S S U E 8 • A P R - M AY 2017
AFRICAN GREYS Firefinches Little Lorikeets BLUE LILIAN’S LOVEBIRDS BLUE-CAPPED WAXBILLS
regulars
488 BREEDING AUSTRALIAN PARROTS: Little Lorikeets By Barry Blanch
490 FINCH FOCUS:
The Endearing Red-billed Firefinch By Russell Kingston
CONTENTS Volume 30 Issue 8
T H E P R E M I E R P E T & AV I A RY B I R D M AG A Z I N E VO L 3 0 I S S U E 8 • A P R - M AY 2017
AFRICAN GREYS Firefinches Little Lorikeets BLUE LILIAN’S LOVEBIRDS
COVER: SUMBA ISLAND ECLECTUS FEMALE BY PETER ODEKERKEN
BLUE-CAPPED WAXBILLS
494 HOOKBILL HOBBYIST: Heartbreak at Parrot Rescue Centres By EB Cravens 496 AVIAN HEALTH WITH DR BOB: Household Dangers By Dr Bob Doneley 498 BREEDER PERSPECTIVE: African Grey Parrots By Andrew Rankmore
501 PET PARROT BEHAVIOUR: Companion Parrot Myth Busters— Part 4 By Hillary Hankey
508 THE WISE OWL: Seeing Red By Dr Milton Lewis 515 FINCH FUNDAMENTALS:
The Blue-capped Waxbill By Marcus Pollard
518 ABOUT BIRDS:
Insectivorous Birds—Part 2 By Kit Prendergast
525 WILD CORNER:
Strikey, the Bar-shouldered Dove By Dr Claude Lacasse
532 YOUNG BIRDKEEPER:
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498
features
481 WHAT’S IN A NAME? FINCHES
By Clancy Hall Part one of a series in which Clancy will explore the meaning behind the names of some of Australia’s popular native aviary birds.
484 LILIAN’S LOVEBIRDS: BLUE SERIES
By Horst Mayer Horst, who has over 100 breeding Lilian’s Lovebirds in 10 colours in the Blue and Green series, describes his work with Blue mutations.
504 IN THE WILD WITH BRAZILIAN PARROTS—PART 1
Rafferty’s Family of Bird Keepers Rafferty Houston
By Peter Odekerken Peter shares his adventures in Brazil and sightings of rare birds in the wild, including Lear’s Macaws, Red-tailed, Red-spectacled and Vinaceous Amazons.
534 CONSERVATION:
510 IDENTIFYING ECLECTUS PARROT SUBSPECIES
• LPF: What Lear’s Macaws Really Eat By Dr David Waugh • WPT: Bolivian Community Creates Vast Wildlife Reserve By Carolyn Pradun
By Rudy Caccia There are many similarities and differences in colour and size across the nine known subspecies of Eclectus, due in part to their range.
522 AVES 2017 SPEAKER PROFILES
Edited by ABK The AVES convention to be held on 3–6 August 2017 will present a fantastic line-up of international and Australian speakers.
526 VALE
Keith Gallagher
528 VALE Nigel Steele-Boyce 530 TRUMPETERS—AMBASSADORS OF THE RAINFOREST
By Dr Antje Mewes Discover the amazing social world of this Brazilian bird, its life in the wild and its successful breeding in Germany.
537 classifieds 479
WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY HORST MAYER
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Lilian’s Lovebirds—young bred in 2016 at 3–7 months old. From left: Violet, Pastelino, Pastel, l, Dark-eyed Clear Blue, Blue, Double Dark Factor Blue Pied, Double Dark Factor Blue and Dark k Blue
ilian’s Lovebirds Agapornis lilianae belong to the smaller Agapornis species. They are recognised by their plumage but have several other positive attributes for breeders. They have no unusual demands in regard to accommodation or food needs. They are strong and healthy and not prone to disease. They are not as loud as their larger relatives and, as a rule, they breed well both in breeding cages and aviaries. The Lilian’s is a peaceful lovebird that can be associated with others even during breeding times. I have been a breeder of Lilian’s Lovebirds for many years, including wild colourful specimen and many diverse mutations. However, many varieties of Lilian’s Lovebird are very rare and much more expensive than similar colourful birds, such as the Fischer’s A. fischeri or Masked A. personatus Lovebirds. Through a lot of breeding success, I have over 100 breeding birds in more than 10 different colours in the Green series and Blue series available. In this article I would like to report on my experience with the especially beautiful representatives of the Blue series. ue ser e ies..
BLUE, D BLUE AND DD BLUE d Blue Lilian’s Lovebirds were first found some years ago in the Netherlands. Along with the normal Blue there are some with one dark factor, Dark Blue ark (written D Blue), and some with two dark factors (written DD Blue). Blue inheritss autosomal recessive (which is contrary to the wild form of heredity), so both males and females can be split for Bluee (written Green/Blue). Good Blue A. lilianae are small birdss with petite, horny beaks. They should exhibit the typical mask shape and should never have violet upper tail coverts. These should be the same blue as on their backs. In order to Dominant Pied Dark Blue breed a good Blue mutation, they Lilian’s Lovebird male should be crossed with Green sampless and be further bred with split birds. About four years ago, I received my first Blue A. lilianae, as well as representatives they are chicks, you can identify which of all colour forms and many split birds. ones will be Blue and which will be Green Intermittently, I have also acquired several split Blue. The chicks of the Blue series examples from other breeders in order to have more variety in bloodlines in my stock. exhibit white down while the Green series (and the Green split Blue) have orange Blue Lilian’s Lovebirds are vital and fertile birds, so breeding them is no harder down that turns more yellowish in colour after a few days. than breeding the wild form. Even when
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BREEDING AUSTRALIAN PARROTS WORDS BY BARRY BLANCH Grad Cert App Sc. Ornithology PHOTOGRAPHS BY JULIE BLANCH
Little Lorikeets
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Little Lorikeets
ndemic to Australia, the Little Lorikeet Glossopsitta pusilla is, as the name suggests, one of the smallest lorikeets. Often referred to as a Green Keet or Little Keet, reflecting size and colouration, these birds inhabit coastal areas of eastern Australia, from Cairns in North Queensland to Adelaide in South Australia. They also follow the Great Dividing Range inland through parts of Victoria and New South Wales. Loss of habitat, and consequently decreased numbers, has prompted the New South Wales Scientific Committee to list the Little Lorikeet as Vulnerable. Little Lorikeets are considered nomadic, following the seasonal weather conditions and native flowering nectar-producing Eucalyptus. Despite being small, Little Lorikeets are not too hard to find as their presence when feeding is evident by the bird’s sharp, high-pitched screeching call.
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DESCRIPTION Little Lorikeets measure only 16–17cm in length and weigh no more than 40g. Their general plumage, including wings, is grassgreen with lighter underparts contrasting with a red forehead and face, surrounding a shiny black beak. The bronze-brown crown, nape and upper mantle are tinted with green. The tail is also green, while the outer tail feathers are washed with orangered. Underwing coverts are a yellowishgreen. Their eyes are orange-red. Females generally have duller colouring and less red on the face and forehead and are a duller green on the back mantle. Immatures are similar to female colouration. The life span is 10–12 years, with breeding starting at 12 months of age. IN THE WILD Habitat and Range Little Lorikeets range from Cairns to Adelaide, along the coastal areas and inland to the Great Dividing Range. They
are occasionally seen in small numbers in north-eastern Tasmania. Large numbers are quite commonly seen through inland Victoria, around Albury on the NSW border, west through to Parkes, Forbes and Dubbo. They fly high, usually in a straight flightpath, with rapid wing beats. Up to 100 birds have been seen roosting in one tree for the night. These small lorikeets also congregate into flocks of 50 or more when feeding on flowering Eucalyptus and Melaleuca to extract nectar and pollen. They mostly feed in the canopy or crown of the trees, up to 30m high. Only once the food has been eaten from the canopy will the birds feed lower in the trees. They prefer mostly dry, open Eucalyptus forests and woodlands. Sometimes other species of lorikeets will feed with them in the same trees. Although they have brush-like tongues for scooping out pollen and nectar, Little Lorikeets will also eat fruits and small insects from the leaves. They have been known to feed on soft fruits in orchards but are not troublesome like other larger lorikeets. In the wild, tall trees are the preferred nesting place, with nests 5–15m or higher from the ground. Nest holes and entrances are often small, with just enough room to enter. Little Lorikeets will excavate a fresh hole from a notch in a tree. Depending on the location, climate and food resources, they will nest in the wild from May to January. Birds in North Queensland will nest from May to October, whereas in cooler southern climates, they will nest through to January. IN CAPTIVITY Housing Housing Little Lorikeets in both breeding colonies and individual pairs in suspended flights can be successful. A large planted aviary measuring 10m x 10m square would house 4–5 breeding pairs if nesting opportunities were evenly spread. For better results, birds should be paired for a couple of months prior to release for colony breeding. This is very important if pairs of other lorikeets, such as Purple-crowns, are also in the large, planted aviary as it will prevent cross-breeding taking place. Single pairs are best housed in suspended aviaries, ideally measuring 2.4m
BREEDER PERSPECTIVE WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANDREW RANKMORE
African Grey Parrots
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DESCRIPTION The African Grey is a medium-sized parrot of approximately 34cm in length, weighing 400–500g. The top portion of the body and wings is covered in a darker grey plumage, while the underside and legs are covered in a contrasting tone of light grey. The tail is quite square-cut at the end and is typically crimson red. There are variations in the shades of grey within this species, and I have heard many claims that this variance is due to gender but, in my experience, this is not the case, and DNA sexing should be carried out. The species also displays a macaw-like bare patch of skin around the face, extending behind the eye and offering a matt white contrast to the bird’s largely grey colouring. This feature conveniently allows the eyes and nostrils to be clearly identified and inspected for health as required. IN THE WILD Few if any species have been harassed in the wild for as long and in such numbers as the African Grey, without succumbing to complete extinction. I suspect their relatively large range and typically dense forest
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P ODEKERKEN
he African Grey Parrot has gone from obscurity in the 1980s to being a relatively common and available parrot in Australia. Surprisingly, breeding results here vary greatly, with some claiming they are difficult to breed while others find them prolific and repetitive breeders that produce significant numbers. Their relatedness and genetic diversity in Australia are largely unknown but, given the original small numbers of birds imported prior to the 1970s ban, and then again during the 1990s ‘import window’, one could suspect genetic diversity to be limited in existing pairs. When in good health, Greys offer a visual spectacle, with their overall two-tone grey matte plumage and a bright red tail, which can be best appreciated in flight. The social stature and media attention which pet African Greys have received overseas have continued to fuel their popularity, particularly in the Sydney basin area. In fact, they represent the most well known and desired species in the pet market world-wide.
African Grey Parrot Psittacus erithacus
dwellings have helped in this regard, but population collapses and local extinctions have occurred, demonstrating the severity of human influence on the species. Trapping for captive trade has been the prime culprit, but deforestation and land clearing of habitat for agricultural land and human habitation has also had a significant effect on Grey Parrot populations. A recent total ban announced by countries associated with CITES has provided both nominate species of African Grey (the Congo and Timneh) with protection from international trade in wild birds. Previously, CITES laws allowed for ‘controlled trade’ in this species. The ban, which will remove the availability of ‘cheaper’ wild birds, will make captiveraised birds more desirable and profitable.
IN CAPTIVITY Diet As with all birds, variety in diet is the key to good health, enrichment and well-being. The African Grey is easily tailored for with a little thought and routine. African Greys do tend to need a slightly fattier diet than the average medium-sized parrot, but this should not be carried to excess. Sunflower is a healthy part of the diet but should never be the whole diet. We find that sprouted pigeon mix, sunflower, pellets, vegetable mixes and a variety of fruit provide a well-rounded diet that has produced significant results in terms of health and breeding. Obviously, feeding all the above in one day would be too much of a burden, with the birds only taking what they like and leaving the rest.
PET PARROT BEHAVIOUR WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY HILLARY HANKEY
Companion Parrot Myth Busters Part 4— Tools to Find the Right Advice
As this series draws to a close, it seems we have hardly scratched the surface of all the too-readily passed around myths and nonsensical methods for changing behaviour that permeate the companion parrot community. In my consulting practice, it seems I am not only hearing the same recycled advice—occasionally with a bit of nuance, a personalised spin, or a catchy marketing moniker slapped on it—that does not end up working and leads the owner to calling me, but inevitably a client tells me about a new method they read about and wants to know why it did not work or why the results only lasted for a week. New life breathed into bad advice is one challenge in and of itself, but swatting down these modernsounding pseudo-scientific methods that pop up every other minute on social media, like King Kong swinging at planes, will only make our arms tired! Naturally, as tool-users and inquisitive problem-solvers of our environments, we want to crowdsource our challenges, use our minds, access the collective knowledge of our communities in order to create a harmonious existence with our pets. Seeking advice from others is something that comes naturally to us. WHAT IS AN EXPERT? Experts come in all shades these days. Anyone can have a large social media following, post a bit of brilliance on a forum, and claim ownership or credibility. A picture may be worth a thousand words but it is only a moment in time, and videos with editing magic can make us look like super stars. Does finding trustworthy sources have to be stressful? Not necessarily, but it should take some effort, and success with a handful of birds does not an expert make. By that same token, the notion that ‘we are all entitled to our opinion’ is not necessarily true when it comes to our pets. Some opinions and methods are hurtful and costly to animals. They can mean the difference between a
The aim of this final Myth Busters article is to take a ‘meta view’ of the practice of advice dispersal as a whole and offer tools to empower the discerning consumer of information in order to protect the behavioural welfare of our companions. The fact is, no matter how much any of us—even progressive-minded professionals—know about parrots or behaviour, we all seek out the advice of
a trusted source at some time or another when we are stumped. Or perhaps we try a new training program when the opportunity presents itself. Any time we try something new, it has to adhere to some basic, core principles and we must quickly dispose of any suggestions or methods that require an animal to respond in a way that does not fit that paradigm.
bird keeping its home and being passed around from one home to the next. Finding correct advice is something we should take into thoughtful consideration and give earnest effort to.
Interactions with our birds are highly individual, and each of our birds prefers something different. Skilled trainers help us develop our observation of body language to decipher how to develop trust rather than offering one-size-fitsall prescriptive methods on how to fi x behaviour
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he E he Eclectus cclleecc tu t s is without doubt d do ou ub bt on o one ne of ne of the most iinteresting in nte tere rest stin ing of o all parrot species. ssp spec pec eciees. s. Not Not ot only do these birds have plumage b bi ird ird ds ha ave ve hhair-like ai ai around and aar arou ro ouunnd d the the he neck n but they dimorphic. aabdomen ab bdo domeen bu ut tth heyy are aree sexually sexx were In ffact, In aacct, c t, t, tthe he ttwo he wo ssexes wo e eess w ex e so different that when Eclectus tth hat at w heenn th he tthe he E Ec cleecttu was discovered in tthe in he 11700s, he 770 0 0s, 0s, they 0s they th ey were thought to be different d fff en e t species. There are nine known subspecies, with some distinct regional variations in colour and size. To appreciate the evolution of the Eclectus species you need to consider the close proximity of its island habitats within Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands because these have a distinct bearing on the physical characteristics of the subspecies, such as colour and size. Natural cross-over of subspecies does occur. For example, the Grand Eclectus subspecies from the Ambon and Buru Islands is quite different in size and colour to the Grand Eclectus found on Seram Island—just south of Halmahera Island where the Vosmaeri subspecies is found. The colour of Grand Eclectus on Seram appears to be to be a mix of the Ambon/ Buru Grand and the Vosmaeri subspecies and can even be mistaken for Vosmaeri. Similarly, the Solomon Island population closest to Papua New Guinea is larger in size than the population further east. Mature males from the population further east also have a blood red iris. It should be noted that Eclectus can be very difficult to identify in terms of subspecies. To the untrained eye, males of the nine subspecies look almost identical, however, to the trained eye they typically differ in size, body shape, colour (shade of green), amount of colour in the tail tip, iris colour
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and tail feather length. th. h. This is explained in d detail below. eettai aill b elo low. w. Part of the ever-growing ro owing wiing ng issue iss ssuuee of of crossbreeding Eclectus tuuss in in aviculture aviccul av ultu ture is is the result of incorrect ct identification iden id eennti tifi tifi ficaati tion tion on of of males of the subspecies. Whether ciees. s. W heth he ther her er yyou ou ou are a backyard parrot ot enthusiast, enth en tthhus usia i st st, a pet st, peet p owner that seeks a second bird set ecconnd bi econ b rd tto rd o se et up up a breeding pair or an eex experienced aviculturist, xperi peerriience ced av vic icul ultuurriist, stt, it is of the utmost importance to prevent nt crossbreeding. cros cr ros ossb sbre reed edinng. g. Unfortunately, unintended nteennd nt deed crossbreeding crros ossb ssb breeed dinng was prevalent in the early eaarrly rllyy days daayys of of importation. There aare, re, ho re hhowever, how owe weeve ver,r, purist ve puurrisst aviculturists that keep off th p stud ssttud d records reecco orrds rds ds o tthe hhee pure subspecies thatt they the hey maintain. mainnta ma tain ain in. We We need more purist breeders. Females are much easier to to identify ide dent ntif tifif y in terms of subspecies as they have a broader spectrum of plumage colours. For example, the Vosmaeri, Tanimbar Island and Sumba Island females are quite unique in colour and can be identified easily. The key to setting up a pure subspecies pair is the females. If you are interested in, for instance, the Vosmaeri subspecies and you are confident in identifying a pure Vosmaeri, you should examine the female progeny of a pair to be confident in obtaining a male from that pair. Most Eclectus fanciers assume that what is offered for sale is pure-bred but this is often not the case, depending on the seller and country of origin. Examine the female produced, analyse it when mature and then place an order for a sibling male if the sister is pure. In my opinion, this is the best way to obtain a pure male of a subspecies, and the proper start to ensuring you have a pure pair. This method is, unfortunately, only for people with time and patience. An important point to remember is that the key to the male’s purity lies in the visual study of the sisters produced.
R CACCIA
Vosmaeri Eclectus. Note the clean yellow vent with no red suffusion. The lavender also travels up p the neck without an evident bib line between the red and lavender. Thee two colours fuse into each other
R CACCIA
WORDS BY RUDY CACCIA
1 VOSM AERI LAN D 2A SERA M IS G RA N D U RU 2B AM BON/B D N RA ISLAN D G D N LA IS 3 SUM BA ND LA IS R BA IM 4 TAN D 5 ARU ISLAN D N LA IS AK 6 BI EA IN U G EW N 7 ISLAN D 8 SOLOMON AN LI 9 AUSTRA
Note the light green colour of a Vosmaeri male and the long, slender body type
FINCH FUNDAMENTALS WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARCUS POLLARD BSc (Hons)
The Blue-capped Waxbill
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recently chanced upon the very first article I ever wrote for the Avicultural Society of Australia Inc. I figured after 25 years ‘in the trade’ at that time that I could have some experience that might be of use to someone out there in bird land. I was amazed to receive a response to it by an English gentleman by the name of Ian Hinze, who sent me a copy of an article that he had written of his experiences in a variety of English bird rooms. That article is often seen in magazines and freely available on the internet and was to become a mainstay and a springboard for my own specialist breeding regimes for a very long time. For someone as renowned as Ian to take the time to reply to an upstart like myself was indeed humbling. The result was a great emailing relationship that lasted right up until Ian’s untimely death. For those interested, the article was A Guide to Keeping and Breeding Waxbills in a British Birdroom. The lengths that Ian was prepared to go to in order to assist me to better my husbandry, despite the variances in climate, location and available materials, is something I will never forget. The main subject of our initial contacts was the magnificent yet mind-numbingly frustrating Blue-capped Waxbill Uraeginthus cyanocephala—a species I’ve always found demanding down here in Tasmania. It has only recently been surpassed in those stakes by the Beautiful Firetail Stagonopleura bella, aka the Devil’s Finch! THE BLUE WAXBILL SPECIES For the uninitiated, there were three members of the Blue Waxbill or Uraeginthus species available in Australia when I first started in birds. The rarest was the Blue-breasted Waxbill, U. angolensis (also called the Blue Waxbill), the Bluecapped Waxbill U. cyanocephalus and the Red-cheeked Cordon Bleu Waxbill U. bengalus. There are two other members of the group that are occasionally seen here—the Violet-eared Waxbill U. granatinus, and the Purple Grenadier Waxbill U. ianthinogaster—but they are far more flashy than the three blue guys, so I have deliberately left them out.
Blue-capped Waxbill male
Young Blue-capped Waxbill pair (female on right)
BLUE-BREASTED WAXBILLS I had one of the last pairs of Blue-breasted Waxbills in existence at the time and they went to nest. Sadly, no-one had told me that you never put cordon-type finches in an aviary with Cubans! You can guess the rest. Males were particularly difficult to obtain towards the end of the Bluebreasted’s existence Down Under. I also gather many were hybridised with Redcheeked Cordons, which resulted in some good-looking females, but males were a different story. The fact there were no imports into Australia made the Bluebreasted’s continued existence tenuous at best, as the old hands told me there were never large numbers to begin with. Mind you, the impressive list of exotic finches that have vanished, even in my shortish time in finches, does make one wonder what the future holds for exotics when every finch we lose can never be replaced under current Australian laws. Now there’s a topic for a future issue! BLUE-CAPPED WAXBILLS The Blue-capped was freely available right through the 1980s but by the end of the 1990s they were starting to climb in price and
it required a bit of a search to find ones that were young and from reliable breeders. Redcheeked Cordon Bleu Waxbills, on the other hand, remained stable and, dare I say, even increased in numbers to their current levels. My first Blue-caps came by way of a rather strange deal in which my ‘payment’ was two pairs of Blue-capped Waxbills. Having heard a number of stories about them and their dependence on termites, I was nervous in the extreme about having them in my collection. They arrived from a breeder in Victoria and were certainly a sight to behold. They were approximately 12 months old. (As an aside, the blue colour of the males increases with age and an eight-year-old male is simply stunning—but obviously not a breeder.) Now, I’m aware that many Aussies believe the words ‘Blue-cap’ and ‘Tasmania’ should never be uttered in the same sentence, given this species’ frailty and dietary requirements. But when has that ever stopped a fincho? Many a Queenslander that I’ve spoken to about them had them in an enclosed, fully roofed aviary, especially around Brisbane, and thought it insanity to have them down here in unheated aviaries. Most of my Blue-caps have died of old age rather than any ailment and my record was a 13-year-old male with his ‘younger’ 11-year-old bride. There’s a funny story about that pair. A visiting fincho from Bathurst in NSW couldn’t take his eyes off the pair and opened his wallet and asked ‘How many of these notes do I have to give you to take that pair home?’ When I told him how old they were, I’ve never seen a wallet disappear so quickly! BREEDING AND FOSTERING Now, they say that forewarned is forearmed, so I spoke with my sage Mr Butler from the Hunter Valley as to the best way to approach trying to breed these Blue-caps in the ‘unlikely’ event that they may jettison their chicks. ‘Give ’em more termites, son’, was his ‘fatherly’ advice. He knew we don’t have such wee beasties down here of course, so once we had the ‘hilarities’ out of the way, he suggested that I set up a few pairs of Red-cheeked Cordons to use as fosters just in case. He said the Red-cheeked Cordons needed to be young and never have reared
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